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JC&P SHOWINO M. BOSVAliO'r^ ROUTE. 



66" 




GABRIEL BO?>rVALOT AND PRINCE HENRY OF ORLEANS. 



ACKOSS THIBET 



BEING A TRANSLATION OP 

"DE PARIS AU TONKING A TRAVERS 
LE TIBET INCONNU " 



\jj3^ 



GABRIEL BONVALOT 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY 
PRINCE HENRY OF ORLEANS 



TRANSLATED BY C. B. PITMAN 




NEW YORK 

CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

104 & 106 FouETH Avenue 



'^s;. ■> 



v^ 



Copyright, 1892, by 
CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

All rights reserved. 






MERSHON COMPANY PRESS, 
RAHWAY, N. J. 



TEANSLATOE'S PEEFACE. 



The last journey undertaken by M. Bouvalot, who was on this 
occasion accompanied by Prince Henry of Orleans, the eldest son 
of the Due de Chartres, has perhaps excited even greater interest 
than the preceding one, when, together with two other French- 
men, he accomplished the difficult, if not unprecedented, feat of 
reaching India by scaling those table-lands of the Pamir— the 
" roof of the world." as that mountain mass is often called — con- 
cerning which there is so much talk just now. M. Bonvalot 
entitled that book, " Aux Indes par Terre," or, to give it the 
English title which I adopted as an equivalent, " Through the 
Heart of Asia." It was a laborious and even dangerous journey, 
bringing out those qualities of courage, self-command, tenacity, 
knowledge of human character, and good-humor, which go to 
make up the successful traveler and explorer. It is to the pos- 
session of all these qualities that M. Bonvalot undoubtedly owes 
the renown which he has achieved as a traveler, and I do not 
think it will be possible for anyone to read the following pages 
without being impressed with the fact that M. Bonvalot — ^who 
was evidently well seconded by his two companions, Prince 
Henry and the Belgian missionary Father Dedeken — is not only 
a man of dauntless pluck but a keen observer of men. Although 
he has not that undue and self-depreciating modesty which is but 
pride in another form, he does not in any way boast of his ex- 
ploits ; but one has only to read the dispassionate and almost 
bare record of the temperature and the privations of the months 
spent on the highlands of Thibet to realize what the chilling cold 
and the wasting miseries of that terrible winter must have 
been. 



Vi TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 

Yet all this is related, as I have said, in as matter-of-fact a tone 
as if the writer were describing a Journey to Cairo or some other 
well-known place in touch with civilization. Starting from the 
frontiers of Siberia, and coming out at the other end of Asia, on 
the coast of the new French colony of Tonquin, M. Bonvalot and 
his companions traversed not only that portion of Thibet which 
several English travelers, such as Dalgleish and Carey, and the 
great Russian Prjevalsky, had explored, but going beyond the 
limits which their predecessors had reached, forced their way 
over the table-lands and came out on the other side, this journey 
being one which no European had ever accomplished ; the only 
persons who had trodden the same paths being the Thibetans on 
their ^vay to and from the holy city of Lhassa. Although they 
encountered many obstacles, and must at times have been in con- 
siderable peril, they did not meet with any active hostility, so 
that the narrative of their journey is not a sensational one, though 
scarcely a day elapsed without an incident of some kind. 

In translating the book into English, I have endeavored to 
remain as far as possible true to the original meaning ; but as the 
work is a very large one, I have taken it upon myself to omit 
certain passages — chiefly of dialogue, especially in the chapters 
relatino; to countries where other travelers had been before. The 
list of the collections which the explorers brought back with 
them has also been omitted in this edition, tkese collections 
having been exhibited in the Paris Museum, and not being des- 
tined for England. I may add that the figures relating to the tem- 
perature have been altered to the Fahrenheit scale throughout. 

C. B. PiTMAIf. 



CONTENTS. 



3 CO 



^f 



CHAPTER L 

AMONG THE LAMAS. 

How the Journey was Suggested — Raclimed — At Moscow — Through the Ural Moun- 
tains — Arrival at Djarkent — Organizing the Caravan — At Kuldja — Father 
Dedeken — Abdullah, the Interpreter — Across the Tien-Chan — In the Province 
of Hi — Kirghiz and Kalmucks— Chinese Justice — The River Kungez — 
Moguls — Exposing the Dead — Visit to a Grand Lama — A Lama Monastery 
and Pagoda — Timurlik — Kirghiz Immigrants — Valley of the Tsakma — The 
Joy of the Desert, 1 

CHAPTER H. 

TO KOUELA. 

A Grood Camping-Ground — Tent Life — Arrival of Two Torgutes — Death of a 
Camel — Concerning Obos — The Gorge of the Kabchigue-gol — A Native at His 
Devotions — The Ghadik — Farewell to the Torgutes — A Pan-Turkish Empire — 
Yakoob-Beg, . 25 

CHAPTER HI. 

TO TCHAEKALIK. 

Kourla — In the Bazaar — Provisioning the Caravan — Parpa — Visit from the Akim 
of Kourla : A " Mandarinade " — Tchinagi — Music in the Camp — A Forest 
of Popars — Crossing the Kutche-Darya and the Intchigue-Darya — Aktarma — 
The River Tarim — The " Silk Plant " — Arkan— Hard Words and Blows Com- 
pared— Talkitchin— The Hat of the Tarim— At Tcharkalik 41 

CHAPTER IV. 

AlSr EXCUESION TO LOB NOE. 

(by prince henry or Orleans.) 

A Region of Salt — On the Tarim Again — Abdullah : the Place and the Man — Resi- 
dence of the Chief — His Family — Wild Camels — Lost in the Darkness — More 
About Wild Camels — Waterfowl — An Exchange — Disappearance of a Lake — 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Down the Tarim in Canoes — Youtchap Khan — Another Native Type — Kanichap 
Kliaii— Straddling a River at Its Mouth — At Eutin — Ichthyophagists — A Native 
Legend — Probable Causes of the Drying up of the Lake — Native Customs — 
Another Abdullah — Festivities — Back to the First Abdullah — Tchai — A Couple 
of Good Shots— A Moonlight March— Tcharkalik Once More, . . . .75 

CHAPTER V. 

FROM TCHARKALIK TO BOULAK BACHL 

" The Southern Road " — Taking Stock — Nev\r Recruits : Timour and Isa — Festivities 
at Tcharkalik — A Nomad Moralist and Poet — Tramps — Prince Henry's Return — 
Taking a Chief into Custody — The Doungane and his Master — The Start — Yan- 
dachkak — The Altyn-Tagh — Valley of the Djahan-Sai — Tchoukour-Sai" — 
Through a Canon — Prince Henry Lost, lOT 

CHAPTER VI. 

STRIKING THE SOUTHERN ROUTE. 

Ascent of the Koum-Davane— The Beginning of Mountain Sickness — A Musical 
Evening — At Ouzoun-Tchor — Isa's Reformation — A Caravan Sighted — The 
Plain of Tchimen — A Providential Meeting— Bag Tokai— The Southern Route 
Discovered at Last — Making for Nam tso— Diplomacy 135- 

CHAPTER VII. 

A DEATH IN THE CARAVAN. 

At Mula Kourghane— More Mountain Sickness — A Chinaman's Logic — Crossing the 
Amban-Achkan Davane— The Lake which does not Freeze — A Parting : " For- 
ward to the Highlands " — The Caravan on Ice— Inquisitive Koulanes — Orongo 
Antelopes : their Strength and Courage — Camp de la Misericorde — Niaz Sick 
Unto Death — Timour Missing — His Return— Remedy for Mountain Sickness — 
Rachmed Lost and Found — Naming a Volcano — Chinese Heartlessness — Death 
and Burial of Niaz — Another Volcano Named — A Hurricane — Keeping the 
New Year, 157 

CHAPTER VIII. 

A WILDERNESS OF MOUNTAINS. 

New Year's Greetings — The Ruysbrook Volcano — Abdullah Astray — Recovering the 
Track of the Pilgrims — Making for the Tengri Nor — Crossing the Lake of Cones 
on the Ice — "Lake Montcalm" — A Valley of Dry Bones — The "Dupleix 
Mountains " — Human Handiwork — Probable Source of the Yaug-Tse-Kiang — 
Fossils at a Height of 19,000 Feet — Traces of Human Beings — 48° Below Zero — 
Celebrating the Chinese New Year — "Crows with a Metallic Croak" — Moun- 
tains Everywhere — Runwing Water, 190* 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER IX. 

AMONG THE THIBETANS. 

"A Man is Coming" — Description of the First Thibetan Encountered — Thibetan 
Horsemen — Driving a Bargain — A Savage's First Sight of a Watch — Uncompli- 
mentary Comments — On the Highroad to Lhassa— Getting Information under 
Difficulties — English and Russians in Bad Odor — Lake Bourbentso — The 
Doungane Shows his Seals — Silos — A Thibetan Interior — A Native Woman — 
Imatch Done Up — Prayers Engraved on Stones — Taking a Prisoner — Death of 
Imatch — In Sight of the Ningling Tanla and the Namtso 211 

CHAPTER X. 

AWAITING ORDERS FROM LHASSA. 

At Namtso — Encamping Near Ningiing Tanla Pass — An Embassage — The Thi- 
betans Undecided — The Caravan in Battle Array — A Mandarin — A Mongolian 
Interpreter — Arrival of the Amban from Lhassa — Giving Him Audience — His 
Suite and Their Costumes — A Long Interview — The Thibetans' New Year's Day 
— In the Amban's Tent — Hewers of Wood — Another Mongolian Interpreter — 
The Incuriousness of Thibetans — A Storm — Arrival of the Ta-Lama and the Ta- 
Amban — Plain Speaking — Refusal to Return — The Ta-Lama and the Ta- Amban 
Described— Abdullah and the Doungane at their Devotions— Colloquy Between 
Rachmed and Timour — Thibetans at Work — Their General Characteristics — 
Carnivorous Horses — The Samda Kansain Chain and River — A Blade of Grass 
— How They Do Business at Lhassa, 24^ 

CHAPTER XL 

SLOW PROGRESS. 

Breakfasting with the Ta-Amban and Ta-Lama— Diplomatic Indignation— Two 
Barbarian Petty Chiefs — An Effectual Call to Order — A Sunset Scene— Feasting 
on a Sheep's Head— A " Dainty Dish " — At Soubrou— Resting at Di-Ti — Water- 
Carriers — An Entente Cordiale — Characteristics and Habits of the Natives of 
the Di-Ti Country — A Specimen of Primeval Man — Nigan : Another Stoppage 
— The Tale Lama's Presents : Sacred Objects— Return Presents — A Lama Guide 
— The Ta-Amban's Advice— A Pet Ram — Timour, Parpa, and Isa Go Back, 276' 

CHAPTER XIL 

so AND ITS MONASTERY. 

At Gatine — The River Ourtchou — A Hermit Lama — "Steeped in Luxury" — At 
Djaucounnene — Meeting a Caravan — Resemblance Between Thibetans and 
Other Peoples — Thumb Language — A Droll Native — The Thibetans Not 
Fanatics — On the Banks of the Ourtchou— At Tandi — The Thibetan Sline; — A 



X CONTENTS. 

Superb Mountain Scene— A Sight of Plowed Land— First View of tlie Mon- 
astery of So— The " Delicious Odor " of Wood— A Concierge in Thibet— Native 
jVIoney— A Commission of 150 per cent.— Plowing at So— Crossing the Satchou 
—A Bearded Thibetan— Why Dishonest Chiefs are Popular, . . . . 29S 

CHAPTER XIIL 

NATIVE CUSTOMS AND CHARACTER. 

x\. Thibetan Vitellius— " Tchang"— Commercial Chinamen— Native Women— Poly- 
andry and Polygamy — Beggars — Contentment — The Chief of the District at 
Home— A Theological Question— Departure from Sere Soundo— Mendicant 
Lamas and their Music— News from Lhassa— The Honeymoon in Thibet- 
Novel Method of Crossing a Stream— Tumblers— Chief in his Cups — A Scene 
of Home Life— Force Majeure— Fickleness of the Natives : The Probable Cause 
— At Kari Meta— Primitive Husbandry — A Lamaess— Praying Windmills— 
Tchoungo— The DSla and Djala Passes— A Splendid Prospect— A Pagoda— 
Houmda — Lagoun : A Manufacturing Town, 322 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FROM LAME TO TCHANGKA. 

Lame— Lamda— Bad Food— Religious Malthusianism— Crossing the Satchou — 
Capture of a New -Born Monkey — Klichoune — Ouochichoune — A Fat Lama 
— Dzerine — Hassar — Thibetans and Chinese : A Contrast — Indefinite Dates — 
Rough and Ready Justice— Dotou— A Dignified Chinese Official — A Series of 
Prayer Mills— Rachmed in Action— The Chinese Army — Parting with the Lama 
Guide— Tsonke— A Secret Christian— The Destruction of the Ba-Tang Mission 
— Burial-place of a French Missionary — Reception by the Mandarin of Tchangka 
—Four Swords for 150 Men 352 

CHAPTER XV. 

AMONG THE CHINESE. 

Religious Prophylaxy — "Red" and "Yellow" Lamaism — The Lamas as Capital- 
ists — From Tchangka to Kouchou — The Tea Trade between China and Thibet 
— Leindlinne — Anarchy — Chinese Inns — The Blue River (Kin-Cha Kiang) — 
Frenchmen in Thibet — Chinese Justice — An Orgie — Chinese Soldiers : The 
Courage of Numbers — At Ba-Tang — A Series of Questions — Tatsien-Lou— The 
French Missionaries There— A Difficulty with the Mandarin — Apology — Chinese 
Administration — Sending Home the Collection of Photographs— The Red River 
— On French Soil — Hanoi — The Future of Tonquin — Conclusion, . . . 380 



ILLUSTRATIONS, 



■Gabriel Bonvalot and Prince PIenry op Orleans, . . Frontispiece 

Eachjied, . . . . . . . . • 1 

Father Dedeken, .....-•• 5 

The Caravan on the March, .....■• 8 

A Lama Doctor, ....... 

The Tien-chan Mountains, ....... 

Valley of the Tsakma, .....•• 

A Mongolian Tent, ....... 

Imatch, ........•• 

The Yulduz Valley, ....... 

Imatch Calling the Camels, ...... 

An Obo, ......... 

.Sandhills at Kourla, ........ 

A Mongolian Lama, ....... 

Kourla Women, ........ 

A Bit op the Taiiim, . . . . . . • 

Inhabitants op Kourla, . ...... 

A Chinese Warrant, ....... 

-Crossing the Kutche-darya, . . . . 

Yangi Koul, ........ 

Canoe on the Tarim, ........ 

Crossing an Arm of the Tarim at Arkan on an Improvised Rapt, 
A Native op Lob, ........ 

Village of Abdullah, ....... 

Women of Abdullah and Natives of the Lob Nor, 

On the Tarim, ........ 

The Latter End of the Tarim, ...... 

.Spinning Woman at Abdullah, . . . . . 

Donkeys and Sheep on the Road, ...... 

Parpa, ......... 

At the Foot op the Altyn-Tagh, ...... 

Tchoukour-Sai, .... .... 

The Doungane, ......... 

xi 



13 
17 

21 ^ 
23 
25 
28 
31 - 
35 
36 
40 
41 
43 
44 
47 
51 

55 '^ 
60 
63 
71 
79 

83 V 
91 b 
98 
106 
109 
112 
116 
125 ,. 
130 ^ 



Xll ILL USTRA TI0N8. 

PAGE 

Gorge at the Foot of the Koum-Davane, ..... 131 

A KouM, .......... 137 

In the Camp at Ouzodn-Tchor, ...... 140 

Defile op the Ouzoun-Tchor, ...... 147 

At Bag-Tokai, ......... 154 

Encampikg at Mtjla Kourghane. ...... 159 

Camels on the Ice, ........ 167 

NiAz, ..... ..... 169 

Burial of Niaz, ......... 181 

Head of an Orongo Antelope, ...... 187 

The Prince in his Traveling Outfit, ..... 190 

The Ruysbrook Peak, ........ 193 

The Paris Peak, ......... 203 

Distant View of' the "Binocle" Lake, . . . . . 208 

Wild Yak, .......... 209 

The First Thibetan Encountered, ..... 211 

Talking over the First Thibetans, ...... 219 

Tent at Bourbentso, ........ 225 

Thibetans at Bourbentso, ........ 226 

Thibetan Horsemen, ........ 229^ 

A Petty Chief, ........ 233 

Lake Namtso, ......... 237 

Religious Insignia, . . . . . . . . . 242^ 

The Petty Amban, ........ 249 

Tent op the Envoys prom Lhassa, ...... 255^ 

Thibetans Loading a Yak, ....... 263 

The Caravan in Motion, ........ 271 

The Cooking Tent, ........ 275 

Chief of Djachas, . , . . . . . . 276 

Thibetan Savages Round a Fire, ...... 281 

The Ta-Lama, the Ta-Amban, and Other Chiefs from Lhassa, . 285 ^ 

A Thibetan Saluting, ........ 289 

The Lama Guide, . . . . . . . . . 291 

An Attendant op the Amban, . . . . . . 293- 

Thibetan Horseman, ........ 295 

Monument Near the Monastery op So, ..... 296- 

Thibetan op the Redskin Type, ...... 301 

Yak Driver with Prayer Mill, ...... 303 

A Loaded Yak, ......... 307 

The Monastery at So, ....... 311 - 



ILL U8TRA TI0N8. Xlll 

PAGE 

A House at ISo, ......,, . 315 

Women at Bata-Soumdo, ....... 321 

Woman and Child op Sehe Soundo, ...... 322 

House at Sere Soundo, ....... 323 

Types op Natives at Sere Soundo, ...... 327 

Mendicant Lamas, ........ 330 

GossiNG, NEAR Sere Soundo, ....... 337 

Obo at Tchoungo, ........ 345 

Thibetan of Tchoung, ........ 352 

A Thibetan Village, ........ 353 

Bridge at Songomba, ........ 357 

Crossing the Satchou, ....... 361 

Babies at Koioum, ......... 367 

Scene in Inhabited Thibet, . . . . . . . 368 

Ruins in the Valley op the Mahtchou, ..... 375 

Lama House at Dotou, ....... 376 

Praying Mill at Dotou, . . . . . . . . 379 

A Dancer, . . . . . . . . .380 

Dancers at Tchangka, ......... 383 

A Buddhist Chapel, . . . . . . . . 385 

The Kin-Cha Klang, 387 

Ba-Tang : View from the Roofs, ...... 389 

Chinese Fort at Ba-Tang, ....... 390 

General View op Ba-Tang, . . . . . . . 393 

Women at Ba-Tang, ........ 397 

Lamas at Ba-Tang, . . . . . . . • 398 

Entrance to the Tatsien-Lou Valley, ..... 401 

French Missionaries, . . . . . . . . 404 

Fishing with Cormorants, . . . . . . . 409 

LoLOS, 412 

The Red River, ......... 413 

Laokal, ........•• 416 

Rachmed and a Thibetan Innkeeper, ...... 417 



ACROSS THIBET. 



CHAPTER I. 



AMONG THE LA]MAS. 

How the Journey was Suggested^Raclimed — At Moscow — Through the Ural Moun- 
tains — Arrival atDjarkent — Organizing the Caravan — At Kuldja — Father Dedeken — 
Abdullah, the Interpreter — Across the Tien-Chan — In the Province of Hi — Kirghiz 
and Kalmucks —Chinese Justice — The River Kungez — Moguls— Exposing the 
Dead — Visit to a Grand Lama — A Lama Monastery and Pagoda — Timiu'lik — 
Kirghiz Immigrants— Valley of the Tsakma— The Joy of the Desert. 

It used to be the fashion to invoke tlie 
muses before one began to write a naiTa- 
tive, but all tliat is out of date, and, for 
my own part, I would simply entreat 
tlie cross-grained rheumatics and treacher- 
ous fever to be so kind as to let me keep 
my word mth my publisher, and write 
him with as little delay as possible the 
story of a journey which I undertook 
with great pleasure, and which, as I must 
frankly admit, it is much less agreeable 
to put upon paper. 

In January, 1889, we were talking, at 
the house of my good friend Henri Lorin, as he reminded me 
upon my return last winter, about travel and exploration, and he 
asked me if I had any fresh project in view. I told him that a 
very interesting journey would be one from Paris to Tonquin over- 
land, cutting out a route of one's own across the whole of Asia. 
And when he asked me to indicate my probable itinerary upon 
the map, I drew a line through Chinese Turkestan, the higher 
tablelands of Thibet, and the valleys of the great rivers of China 




EACHMED. 



3 ACliOSS THIBET. 

and of tlie ludo-Cliiuese peninsula. Those wlio were looking 
over my slioulder thought this scheme a splendid one, but, for 
my own part, still feeling the effects of my journey over the 
Pamir, I ^vould not allow myself to think of putting it into 
execution, for the good reason that when I let my fancy turn to 
travel I am sure to be carried away by it. 

A few months later, on coming back from the Exhibition, 
where I had been to catch a glimpse, as it were, of the distant 
lands in which I had wandered, this same friend wrote to say 
that there was a person desirous of traveling with me in Asia. 
The first thing to ascertain was whether it was someone pre- 
pared to follow me blindfold, for my intention was not to play 
the globe-trotter but to explore. I was told that this was so, 
and, forgetting all about my resolve to take a rest, I plunged into 
the study of the narratives of Father Hue and Prjevalsky. 

Little time was lost in coming to an understanding with the 
Due de Chartres, who offered to participate in the expense of an 
exploring expedition in which his son was to take part. We at 
once ascreed that our undertakinsr should be a national one, and 
that the collections we might make should be handed over to 
our Museums. My future companion, Prince Henry of Orleans, 
was delighted at the plan which I submitted to him, though it 
was a somewhat vague one, for traveling has this much in com- 
mon with war, that, before getting upon the ground, it is idle to 
commit one's self to any positive arrangements. 

The preliminary preparations having been rapidly completed, 
we left Paris on the 6th of July, just when Paris was in the full 
fever of her Exhibition. At Moscow we were to be joined by 
Rachmed, my faithful companion during my two pre\dous jour- 
neys, he having been found out for me in the Caucasus at the 
place where I had expected he would be, for I knew where 
Kachmed prefers to live when he is not on the tramp. The 
worthy fellow was preparing to come to the Exhibition, by way 
of realizing a dream he had for some time been cherishing ; his 
ticket had been taken and he was about to embark at Batoum, 



OROANIZING THE CARAVAN. 3 

when lie got my telegram, saying that if lie cared to come to 
China mth me he was to go and wait for me at Moscow. So 
he went and changed his ticket for one to Moscow, not in the 
best of humors, for it cost him a pang not to see the Exhibition. 
Still he did not hesitate, being afraid, as he confided to one of 
my friends, that he would displease me. Rachmed is an Uzbeg 
by bii'th, and belongs to one of the branches of that fine Turkish 
race which, as I am never tired of repeating, comprises so many 
noble specimens of humanity. 

In Russia we were treated most handsomely, and furnished 
with all necessary letters of recommendation to the Consuls along 
the Chinese frontier. Remaining at Moscow only long enough 
to make the many necessary purchases, we Just stopped at Nijni- 
Novgorod, went down the Volga, ascended the Kama, and 
traversed the Ural chain of mountains. At Tinmen we again 
took boat, and landed at Omsk, whence, after making some 
purchases, we started again for Semipalatinsk, where we pur- 
chased the European goods which we were afraid of not being 
able to get at the frontier itself, and, after being veiy much 
jolted in a tarantass, arrived at Djarkent, the last town on 
Russian territory. 

Before entering China we had to organize our caravan and 
recruit the staff needful for carrying out our project, but I mil 
spare the reader an enumeration of the details and trouble en- 
tailed by these preliminaries of an exploring party. Let me, 
however, say that the thorough organization of a caravan, for a 
journey which is to end Heaven knows when or where, is the 
most difficult part of an explorer's work. In the Asiatic coun- 
tries we were about to traverse vehicles are not used and the 
rivers are not navigable, being obstacles instead of means of com- 
munication as they are elsewhere. It is imperative, therefore, 
neither to forget anything nor to take a single superfluous article. 
So one tries to think of everything, to foresee all contingencies, 
and, after ha^dng eliminated as much as possible, it is astonishing 
to find how heavy the load is. 



4 ACROSS THIBET. 

Meanwhile, we liad to recruit our men at Djarkent on tlie 
frontier of Siberia. This was most difficult, for here we could 
only secure men very much below the mark, and not at all built 
for a lono" journey. Kachmed inspected them first, and, in pre- 
senting them to me, his unvarying observation was, " They are of 
no use for the road." I could see that he was right. There was 
not one of them who had respectable antecedents ; they were a 
pack of lazy and penniless fellows Avho were anxious only to get 
across the frontier in our wake. Among them there is not one 
of those adventurers, vigorous and ready for anything, ^vho have 
already looked death in the face, and ^vould go through fire after 
the leader whom chance had given them, provided that leader 
had succeeded in attaching them to himself by a mixture of good 
and of bad usage. How much we regretted not having our 
base of operations in Russian Tui'kestan — at Samarkand, for 
instance, where there is no lack of good men. It is true we 
had three Russians w^ho would suit us very well, but they made 
it a condition, when they took service mth us, that they should 
not go beyond the Lob Nor. 

Septeniher 6. — We left Djarkent on the 2d, and, marching by 
short stages, reached Kuldja to-day, and were most hospitably 
received by the Russian Consul and his secretary. We spend a 
few hours very pleasantly mth the members of the Belgian 
mission, one of whom. Father Dedeken, has completed his 
eno'ao-ement, and is about to return to Europe. As he has an 
appointment at Shanghai, he mil go mth us to the coast, and 
perhaps accompany us to Europe. He speaks Chinese, and as he 
is a man of strong will \Ye are glad to have our party reenforced 
by him. His Chinese servant, Bartholomeus, who is to accom- 
pany him, is honest — which few Chinese servants appear to be — 
but very obstinate, which, on the contrary, seems to be very 
common in China. 

Prince Hemy, Father Dedeken, Rachmed, Bartholomeus, and 
myself form the nucleus of the expedition. AVe have, too, an 
interpreter named Abdullah, who speaks Chinese and Mogul, and 



ABDULLAH, TILE INTERPRETER. 




FATHER DEDEKEN. 



who accompanied the celebrated Prjevalsky. He seems to be an 
honest sort of fellow, but his vanity, his boastfulness, and his 
talkativeness make us very uneasy. 

His account of what he went through in the Tsaidame alarms 
our followers, and he seems bent upon dissuading us from under- 
taking anything out of the beaten tracks. It must be added 
that the Russian Consul at Kuldja is not much more encouraging, 



Q ACROSS THIBET. 

and wlien Piince Henry tells liim we are going to try to reach 
Batang he smiles incredulously, and advises him not to be lured 
on by that idea. He points out to us that we have no escort, no 
felt tent, no Chinese passport. But experience has taught us that 
one can get on without either of these three things which he 
regarded as indispensable. As regards the passport, I must say 
that the main cause of our success was our omission to give notice 
of our journey to the Tsong li Yamen at Pekin. By asking for a 
passport to travel in those parts of China which have been little 
visited we should have excited the attention of Chinese diplo- 
macy. The Mandarins would have given us the warmest letters 
of recommendation, and then, as soon as our itinerary was known, 
would have sent orders for every sort of means to be used to stop 
us on the road, and compel us to turn back. Such has been the 
lot of all travelers in China, from the late Prjevalsky down to 
Richthofen, Count Bela-Szechny, and so many others who have 
been stopped in their journeys by various devices. 

After having completed our caravan as best we could at 
Kuldja, all we wanted, in order to continue our journey, was the 
authorization of the Chinese governor of the province. This was 
granted us after a visit in which etiquette was very carefully 
observed, insomuch that we were offered three cups of tea and a 
bottle of champagne, and the Governor gave us two safe-conducts 
to take us to the frontiers of the province of Hi. 

September 12. — To-day the small European colony kindly 
escorts us to the gate of the town, and cordially wishes us a safe 
journey and happy return home. 

And so at last we find ourselves in the saddle. We first make 
in an easterly direction, but change our course as soon as we have 
crossed the Tien-Chan, as it is Tonquin that we have in view. 
Shall we ever get there, and, if so, by what route ? There is all 
the old continent to cross, the least known portion of China, 
Thibet and its highlands, the deserts and the deep rivers, to 
say nothing of the human beings who look upon every stranger 
as an enemy. All this I might have said to myself, and to these 



IN THE PROVINCE OF ILL 7 

reflections miglit liave added tliat we were only Ave or six to 
face an unknown situation before whicli so many otliers, better 
equipped and prepared, had quailed. But I must confess that I 
had not one of these rhetorical thoughts in my head when 
once I found myself fairly started, abandoning myself to the 
pleasure of being in the open and looking about me with the 
eager curiosity of the traveler whose eyes, almost starting from 
their orbits, scan the horizon like a hungry hawk in search of 
prey. 

After getting quit of the dust, which reminds me of 
Turkestan, the soil, the landscape and the cultivation of the 
plain recall the neighborhood of Samarkand and Tashkendt. 
The beardless fa'ces, the sunken eyes, and the long dresses of 
the men show that one is in China, The fertility of the valley 
of Hi is remarkable, so that for the last few years its population 
has been growing very rapidly. A great many of the Tarantchis 
who had fled to Russian territory are coming back to the places 
which their forefathers had cultivated, and a number of emigrants 
come from Kashgar, and even from Eastern China; but it will 
l^e a long time before the inhabitants are numerous enough to 
cultivate to the full extent this region, which would feed hundreds 
of thousands. 

Leaving the valley of Hi to our right, as far as Mazar, built 
upon an affluent of the Kach, we followed a very good road, 
frequently coming upon villages which have been abandoned by 
the Tarantchis, who, having taken part in the massacre of the 
Chinese, fled when the province of Hi was transferred from 
Russia to China. The houses are falling into ruins, and are 
gradually disappearing amid a growth of willows, poplars, and 
vines; weeds choke up the gardens; the irrigating canals are 
dried up, and the fields are fallow. Deserted though the soil 
is, however, it has not ceased to be generous ; it is arrayed in 
verdure, and its aspect is bright and cheerful. 

One of our men recognizes the house in which he was born. 
The roof has fallen in, the door has been carried off, for fuel no 



8 ACROSS THIBET. 

doubt, tlie walls are all cracked, and tliere are patches of barley 
grooving at tlie extremity of the hearthstone. The Tarantchi 
was overcome with grief at the sight of the place all in ruins, 
and recalled how happily he had lived there with his parents, 
what fine crops they grew^, and how cheap the food was. 

I asked him why he had not remained there. 

" We killed too many Chinese, Solons, and Sibos," he replied, 
" and upon the Chinese returning we fled." 

" Now that you have crossed the frontier, will you return to 
Djarkent ? " 

" Heaven preserve me, no ! The soil is not good, and water is 
scarce. I shall go to Kashgar, where the family of one of my 
wives lives." 

" Were you not married at Djarkent ! " 

" Yes, and I had a child as well. He died the day before I 
came to offer 3"ou m}^ services, and I gave my wife back to her 
father. I am quite free." 




THE CARAVAN ON THE MARCH. 



KIRGHIZ AND KALMUCKS. 



The facility with which this Mussulman abandoned his wife 
surprised me, but in this country it appears to be quite common. 
What this Tarantchi told me about Hi was repeated to me by 
many others. Most of those who live in Eussian territory are 
on the lookout for a chance of slipping across the frontier. ^ The 
•Chinese Mandarins have the wit to entice them; they do not ask 
them for papers. They let them settle on the uncultivated lands, 
and do not bother them about the past. 

In the province of Hi, beyond Mazar, we meet a great many 
Siberian Kirghiz, whom the excellence of the pasturages along 
the affluents of the Hi has attracted. They have kept the chiefs 
whom they had elected, being Russian subjects. By order of 
the Chinese Mandarin, and with the assent of the tribes, these 
chiefs mil transmit theii' powers to their descendants. 

Side by side with these very wealthy Kirghiz we see some 
very poor Kalmucks. The rich pastures and flocks belong to 
-the former, while the latter are relegated to the less fertile tracts, 
which they cultivate without gaining a sufficiency. These 
Kahnucks are certainly not taking in appearance. They are 
frail, badly fed, badly housed, badly clad, and have a placid 
rather than an energetic and intelligent aii\ Nevertheless, they 
have for some time been intrusted with the defense of the'coun- 
try,^ and they must not leave the place assigned to them without 
asking permission from their chief. They are not only bound to 
the soil, but are liable to be requisitioned for police or orderly 
duty, and must have in readiness the saber, the flint-lock gun, or 
the bow. Their ^' banners," to the number of twenty, distributed 
over the Tien-Chan, play more or less the same part as those 
families which in Austria were established in the south of the 
empii^e in the region of the "military frontiers," as they were 
styled. Their neighbors do not appear to hold them in high 
esteem, for a Kirghiz, to whom I observed how mild a physiog- 
nomy these Moguls have, replied with a laugh : 
" That is true. They are as mild as cows." 
" In what way ? " 



10 AGBOSS THIBET. 

" Because tliey can be milked without any trouble." 

It appears tliat the Kirghiz, who are daring, well armed, and 
unscrupulous, do not think tmce about cheating and pillaging 
these Moguls. As the plunderers are Mussulmans they can 
easily settle matters with their consciences, seeing that the vic- 
tims are Buddhists, that is to say, people who have no " book," 
neither a Bible nor a Koran, and so are of no account. 

The Chinese authorities intervene but rarely to mete out 
justice to those who are aggrieved; the offenders are nearly 
always out of reach in the mountains, where they find it so easy 
to hide, and then again it is easy, in this case, to obtain from 
their family or tribe either a tax which may be in arrears or a 
present which in ordinary times would be withheld. But when 
brigandage has reached such a point that there is no sort of 
vsecurity the authorities resort to a ruse. By dint of promises 
and fair words, the chief who is the instigator of the trouble is 
enticed into the town and got rid of in some Avay or other. For 
instance, he is put into a cage between two impaling poles, and, 
by way of warning to offenders, he is left to die in this horrible 
posture. Sometimes it is a week before his agony ends in death. 
Having lost their leader, the nomads are thrown more or less into 
confusion, and advantage is taken of this to obtain some kind of 
submission. 

The Chinese authorities have succeeded in embodying a certain 
number of Kirghiz, in registering them, so to speak. Thus we 
observed that the horsemen whom we meet wear round the neck 
a small tablet in a felt bag. When I ask what that means, I am. 
told that for some time past every Kirghiz who is going into the 
town must first appear before his leader and ask him for one of 
these tablets, upon which his name is written in Turkish, in 
Chinese, and in Mogul. It is a passport which enables him to 
move about freely in the bazaars, and in times of disturbance 
any Kirghiz caught without it is arrested by the Chinese soldiers 
and visited with the most terrible punishments. On returning 
to his tribe the traveler has to return the passport to his chief,. 



THE RIVER KUNOEZ. 11 

and in this way it is possible to ascertain who are absent, and to 
exercise some sort of police control in the mountains. These 
men, riding about with the tablet flapping against their chests, 
enable one to realize the enormous power of an administration 
when opposed to the weakness of private interests without 
cohesion. The Chinese authorities have succeeded by dint of 
patience in getting the whip hand of these nomads, who used to 
make mock of them, and have put the yoke of the law upon 
their necks. 

September 15. — To-day we left Mazar, and if the bridge over 
the Kach had not been carried away by a storm we should have 
crossed that river so as to reach the valley of the Kungez by a 
neighboring pass. But we were compelled to cross the mountain 
fui'ther north and find out a ferry higher up the river. After 
having climbed up and then followed the undulations of the 
uncultivated hills, we descried the valley, a sort of terrace at the 
foot of the mountains, a grayish steppe dotted over with a few 
tents and nomad flocks. It is commanded to the east by a chain 
of mountains more elevated than that to the north, and the slopes 
of which seem to us quite bare, while the summits are not white 
with snow. 

The banks of the river present a somewhat attractive appear- 
ance, the stream flowing; alons; like a ribbon amid verdure formed 
by poplars, willows, tamarisks which still bear a fev/ flowers, 
liquorice-plants, barberries, and wild raspberries. There is 
abundance of water, and the grass is thick wherever the river 
reaches, while pheasants swarm in the undergrowth. 

Passing a deserted village, we cross the small stream of Nilka 
and leave the marshy valley for the high plateau which over- 
hangs it. In the midst of taU. grass we come here and there upon 
cleared plots where the Moguls have their felt tents, which ai'e 
smaller than those of the Kirghiz, lower and more pointed at the 
smnmit. These Moguls are busy threshing the wheat in the 
open air, in the same way as other primitive peoples who do 
not employ any machine. A pole is put into the ground in 



12 ACROSS THIBET. 

the center of tlie wheat, which is laid out upon the ground, 
and oxen are tied to this pole and made to tramp round in a 
line, children driving them along mth a stick. These chil- 
dren are stark naked and very weakly in appearance. Their 
stomachs are protuberant, and their skin, exposed constantly to 
the sun, is nearly black, while it seems to be merely thrown 
loosely over their frame, and to be about to come off whenever 
they raise their arms and cause their angular shoulder-blades to 
protrude. 

Septeiiiber 16. — This evening we reach the banks of the river, 
which is at least 650 feet wide at the point where we are to cross 
it, for it branches out and forms numerous small islands, while 
the current is very impetuous. We hope that in the morning, 
when the water is lowest, we shall get our caravan over without 
mishap before sunrise. From our bivouac we can distinguish to 
the north white specks in the plain, at the foot of the mountains. 
These, it appears, are the tents of the lamas engaged upon the 
harvest ; and when it is over they will return to winter in the 
monastery built upon the left bank of the river. 

We are now in a Buddhist country, in a land where the 
people believe in the transmigration of the soul from one body to 
another. This does not tend to respect for the human body or 
to regard for the dead. While walking through the reed-beds 
in search of small birds for our natural history collection, my 
foot comes in contact with the upper part of a human skull. 
It is quite white, stripped cleaner than could have been done 
by the cleverest medical student. Upon examining it, I find 
that it is the very image of the Kirghiz skulls which I have 
had in my hand in Turkestan, there being the same depression 
of the occiput, the same breadth of cheek, the same prominent 
eyebrows, the same protruding cheek-bones, but with the fore- 
head apparently less developed and rather lower, though quite 
as receding. We may assume that this skull was that of a man 
who did not possess any very marked intelligence, who was short 
in statm^e — as I learnt from the thigh-bone, which I picked up 



EXPOSING THE DEAD. 



13 



a little further — and who had excellent teetli, as is proved 
by a fragment of his lower jaw. The bits of clothing hanging 
from the thorn bushes show that he was not a man of wealth. 




A LAMA DOCTOR. 



This was the place were his remains were exposed as soon as the 
soul had passed into a better body. Four stakes with bits of 
stuff at the end of them indicated that the corpse was deposited 
there, and the Avild Ijeasts, the l:)irds of prey, and no doubt the 



14 ACROSS THIBET. 

dogs from tlie adjoining tents, have cleared away the terrestrial 
envelope of this Mogul, devouring his flesh and grinding his 
bones, and then the process of time and of weather completed 
the work of destruction. There remain only a whitened skull, a 
half -gnawed thigh-bone, and a fragment of jaw; the soul has 
taken its flight, and the bits of stuff at the end of the stakes are 
praying for it, for, inscribed in black letters upon a yellow 
ground, are marvelous supplications brought from Lhassa. 

September 17. — To-day, as we were certain of being able to 
overtake our caravan, which will be delayed in its progress by 
having to cross the ferry, we paid a visit to the Grand Lama, the 
head of the monastery. Our approach to the tents was heralded 
by the fmious barking of some splendid long-haired dogs. The 
noise brings out the lamas, young and old, who drive away the 
angry mastiffs by throA\dng stones at them. We explain the 
object of our visit to the oldest of them, and he sends on in 
advance two young monks, and himself conducts us to the 
residence of his superior. The person who acts as our cicerone 
has an enormous head, a rather long neck, small eyes, and a big 
face covered with warts, so that his physiognomy would not be 
very pleasing but for the mouth and the smile playing upon his 
thick lips. It appears that this worthy man, whose age it would 
be very difficult to guess, is a celebrated doctor. His headdress 
is a greasy leather cap surmounted with a tuft, a small cap such 
as might fit a chorister boy, and which is much too small for so 
huge a head, upon which it produces much the same effect as 
would a wafer on the top of an orange. For a dress he has a 
long serge robe coming down to the feet and fastened round 
the waist with a belt, while his small feet are encased in 
untanned leather, which does duty at once as stocking and 
boot. 

The Grand Lama received us very affably at the entrance 
to his tent of white felt, which was larger than any of the 
others. He himself drew aside the curtain, and invited us into 
his residence ; and we, as soon as we had entered, seated our- 



THE GRAND LAMA. 15 

■selves ill Eastern fasliion to tlie left of the aperture. The yellow- 
looking little man asked us as to our health, offered us the 
services of his doctor, and talked to us in the most paternal and 
friendly tone. Leaving our interpreter to answer for us, we 
proceeded to inspect at our ease, but with due discretion, this 
incarnation of Buddha and his abode. 

The Grand Lama appears to be about sixty. Like all the 
priests of his creed, he wears his hair short, and being beardless 
by nature he has no need to shave. His features are regulai', 
especially by comparison with those of his doctor. He has rather 
a broad face, but the black e}^es are very intelligent, the mouth is 
delicate, and the eyelids veiy clearly defined. He is easy in his 
gestui'es, and has a good deal of unction in the voice, I should 
not be at all surprised if he ruled the fraternity excellently, for 
he gives the impression of being a man of mark. From time to 
time he takes a pinch of red snuff, which he puts out on to the 
nail of his thumb from an oval jade bottle with a silver stopper. 
He takes care that we are served with some tea with butter 
in it, which is the favorite drink of the Moguls and the 
Thibetans, and which I found very much to my liking upon 
tastino; it for the first time. 

Behind my host there stands upon a slab a gilt statue, which 
represents the Grand Lama of Lhassa. The Grand Lama seems 
to be very like him, and has the same smiling physiognomy. 

There is nothing in the tent which indicates any effort at 
cleanliness or luxury. The whole of the furniture seems to be 
about equally neglected, and the only apparent value possessed 
by anything is a row of small jade vases placed upon a coffer 
covered with some yellow material opposite to the entrance ; an 
altar has been raised, and some sacred images are inclosed in a 
sort of tabernacle or movable chapel, the shape of which reminds 
me of those I have seen in Italy ; and, as is the case in Italy and 
also in Spain, these sacred images of Buddha are carried to the 
residences of such persons as ask for them in order to facilitate 
"their cm^e, which the doctor also helps to effect by means of 



16 ACROSS THIBET. 

remedies that have received the priestly benedictiou. Aiuoug^ 
these remedies are some tndy extraordinary oues, of so singular 
an origin that I dare not explain them, for fear of being con- 
sidered improper. 

Presently there is a great noise of drums and cymbals, which 
is the call to prayer. So we take leave of the Grand Lama, who 
rises, offers us his hand, and wishes us a safe journey, with the 
same smiling face Avhich is seen alike in the Buddhas of statues 
and in the Buddhas of flesh and blood. The aged priest readily 
gives us permission to visit the pagoda built close to the mnter 
monastery. 

As we go out we notice the cymbal-players, who are standing 
in front of a large tent which is used for religious service during 
the harvest. The lamas are nearly all out in the fields, and the 
number of Avorshipers is very small, the congregation consisting 
mainly of youths with skull-caps on their clean-shaven heads, 
and a long monkish robe fastened round the Avaist with a belt. 

The monastery consists of a congeries of houses in the Mogul 
style, foj^ming a sqnare. Nothing can be simpler than the archi- 
tecture of these buildings : four walls, a door, a window, a fire- 
place, a hole in the ceiling, some forage on the roof, and that is 
about all. As far as we can Judge by what can be seen through 
the chinks in the closed doors, the furniture is not worth speaking 
of, for Ave can see only a f eAV chests, some clothing, and a certain 
quantity of tools. Moreover, the lamas, faithful to their nomad 
habits, are said to inhabit, eA^en during the cold season, their felt 
tents, erected in the courtyards formed by these dAvellings. They 
are built of earth, rubble, and Avood, and are used as much for 
cattle as for human beings. 

The pagoda is neAV, and its Avails are Avhitewashed. The main 
door being open, we enter into a sort of rectangular barn. The 
first thing Avhich strikes our eye is the altar, upon which are 
burning lamps whose flame sheds a gloAV upon the gilding of 
the statues. One represents Buddha in his youth, Avreathed in 
smiles and seated upon a throne. Behind him a lama, in gilt 



A LAMA MONASTERY. 



17 



metal, is smiling as amiably as Buddha himself. Like him, 
he has long ears — the better to hear prayer, no doubt ; and he 
holds his hands out, one against the other^ in the attitude of a 
person I'eady to applaud, while at the same time maintaining 
an aspect of great dignity. 

Beside the high altai', in a chapel of more modest proportions, 
is the statue of a person dressed in yellow, with an apron on the 




THE TIEIM-CHAN MOUNTAINS. 



knees and a chaplet in the hand. He, we are told, is to be the 
successor of the Grand Lama, and liis functions are analogous to 
those of a Christian Saint, lie having charge to intercede for the 
faitliful and to transmit their prayers to the proper destination. 
On the table of the altar are a number of small cups containing oil, 
and, besides these, there are bronze ewers, bells, bundles of images, 
peacocks' feathers disposed as trophies, packets of sacred books and 
printed prayers, vials containing grains or perfumes, and other 
trifles, which are, nevertheless, of high value, for they have been 



18 ACROSS THIBET. 

bronglit from tlie holy city of Lliassa. The two sides of the uave, 
if it may be so called, are used as a warehouse. 

Before we left, the lama who acted as our guide showed us 
a tambourine which was used as an organ for accompanying the 
prayers ; and, striking the cymbals which are used for the same 
purpose, he, with raised forefinger and open mouth, bade us 
admire their sonorous properties. Their vibrations are, as a 
matter of fact, very harmonious. Before parting with him we 
give him a handsome " tip," and the poor fellow did not attempt 
to disguise his satisfaction, for these simple people do not know 
what wealth is, and we are struck by the wretched state in 
which the Moguls encamped around the pagoda live. The 
interior of their tents is the acme of filth, and the smells emanat- 
ing from them are horrible. Nearly all the children are naked, 
the parents not having the wherewithal to clothe them. As to 
the women, they exceed in ugliness anything which can be 
imagined ; and one cannot help wondering how the most ardent 
of poets would contrive to idealize them. 

In the evening we penetrate by a small pass into the valley of 
Kungez, and encamp not far from a copper-mine, where we dis- 
cover a tiny spring, which supplies us with sufficient water for 
our tea. And this is about all, for we are on an arid steppe. 

Septemhei' 18. — To-day we encamp among the rushes on the 
banks of the Kungez, at a place named Timurlik. We cross the 
Kungez about six miles further on, for we have to make to the 
southeast toward the valley of Tsaknia, and the pass which 
leads there is higher up the stream. We are now on the route 
followed by Prjevalsky, and so far the crossing of the chain of 
the Tien-Chan, which barred our route, has presented no great 
difficulties. The excursion, indeed, was a delightful one, and 
the temperature agreeable, though at one in the afternoon it was 
100° Fahrenheit in the shade. The minimum at night was 16°, 
just cool enough to make it a pleasure to wrap ourselves up in 
our long wadded blankets. 

Sejptemhev 19. — Some Kirghiz who to-day offered us hospital- 



KIRGHIZ IMMIGRANTS. 19 

ity declared themselves to l^e the happiest of men. They have 
water in plenty ; they sow their corn at the foot of the moun- 
tains, and hnd an abundance of grass in the plains for their 
flocks and herds. They do not run short of wood, for the banks 
of the Kungez are covered mth thick plantations, where the 
willow, the poplar, the apple-tree (with small and sharp-flavored 
fruit), the pepper-tree, the apricot tree, hemp, the licorice-plant, 
and the hop-vine grow wild. These Kirghiz foi'merly lived on 
Russian teriitory in tlie neighborhood of Lepsinsk, and crossed 
over to Chinese soil because they had no routes for their flocks. 
They pay the Chinese a tax of 10 per cent. They are very 
cheerful, well fed, lusty, and mth plenty of color, like all who 
live in the keen mountain air. They do not strike us as being 
very fond of work, passing all their time in going from one tent 
to another, in eating and sleeping, though occasionally they go 
out after game. Several of them are armed mth Berdan rifles. 

September 20. — We take leave of these Kirghiz, the last we 
shall see, their tribes not extending fui'ther east. Their chief, 
named Sasau, is very proud of the Russian medal which he 
w^ears round his neck, and of the blue button in his hat, which 
indicates his Chinese rank. He accompanies us through the 
reed-beds, and before wishing us all sorts of good luck recom- 
mends to om^ favorable notice five men of his tribe whom we 
may encounter in the vicinity of Yulduz. He warns us that 
when they see us they will take us for Chinese and make off, but 
he begs us not to fire on them or do them any harm. We at 
once inferred that Sasan's friends are Barantachis — that is to 
say, persons addicted to baranta, the Turkish word for horse- 
steahng. 

September 22. — The two guides whom the Chinese governor 
gave us assert that they do not know the route to the valley of 
Tsakma, and Abdullah, the interpreter, who undertook to show 
us the way, led us right into a cul-de-sac. We retraced oiu^ 
steps, and the plainest common sense enabled us to discover what 
would have been a convenient pass if the rain had not made the 



20 ACROSS THIBET. 

ascent so arduous. Gaining tlie summit at last, we descended 
into the valley, and re-ascended a plateau, where we found 
refuge beneath a splendid cluster of pine-trees ; a piece of bread 
taken out of oui" pockets and some currants picked from a cur- 
rant-bush close by constituting our frugal breakfast. 

The rain ceased when we reached the summit of the pass. 
Near the watershed we came upon a roughly defined path along 
the edge of a goi'ge to oui* left. All of a sudden a strong gust of 
^viud made a lai'ge horizontal rent in the veil of mist spread over 
the landscape, and we were able to distinguish, far to the south, 
mountains covered with forests, the trees of which ah'eady had a 
powdering of snow, while above were large banks of black clouds. 
Then the mist slowly cleared off, and as the atmosphere gradually 
lightened the eye wandered gladly over a broad valley, which we 
did not suspect to be so near. Clumps of green trees mark 
the windings of the river Tsakma, which traverses a steppe 
extending toward the west and covering, as if with a grayish 
carpet, the sides of the valley. It might be supposed to be per- 
fectly smooth, and to come down without a break to the groves 
of trees at the bottom ; but by looking closer spots of a more 
decided color can be distinguished, and the eye gradually detects 
that they are moving. They prove to be gazelles, which take 
fright at our approach, and make off at full speed. It is then 
we discover that the slope, which had seemed to us quite smooth,, 
is not so in reality, for the gazelles fii'st go down and disappear, 
then come up again, only again to disappear, disclosing to us all 
the undulations of a very uneven desert, a few green patches in 
the hollows marking the places where the water which has come 
down from the mountain has collected. 

The horizon Ijeing more distinct, thanks to the breeze, the 
vicAV broadens toward the west, and stretches so far that the river 
is only visible as a slender thread, and gradually becomes lost in 
space. So we get once more that sensation of the desert which we 
nomads so like. Without attempting to analyse the feeling, I 
may say that the ste]3pe, the desert, is a very fascinating place of 



'i|'^ i! 




THE JOY OF THE DESERT. 23 

sojourn for one who has lived in large cities, and has been pnt 
out of humor by the petty worries of civilization. Solitude is a 
true balm, which heals up the many wounds that the chances of 
life have inflicted ; its monotony has a calming eifect upon nerves 
made over-sensitive from having vibrated too much ; its pm^e air 
acts as a douche which drives petty ideas out of the head. In 
the desert, too, the mind sees more clearly, and mental processes 
are carried on more easily. 

Encamping on a natural platform near a plantation through 
v^hich the river runs, we light big fires, dry our clothes, and 




s/lLi-L-'^i^^S^ 



A MONGOLIAN TENT. 



sacrifice a good fat sheep. The sheep remaining are fastened 
together and placed between the fires, mthin the circle formed 
by the camels and horses, for we ai'e in fear of the wolves reduc- 
ing us to starvation. 

This region, in which are to be found traces of ^vild boar, deer, 
and Avolves, is frequented by trappers and hunters, as is proved 
by the ashes of a fire in the open, by charred logs of wood, and 
by a shelter made out of the boughs of trees. 



24 Acnoss THIBET. 

We find a very comfortable I'esting-place under a pine tree, 
between two enormous I'oots, Tlie soil had been trampled 
down, and our sleeping apartment is a thick bed of grass under 
a sort of arch, l^eneath which we had to creep. Of course, it 
would not do to attempt many gestures in awaking, but one 
can sleep here protected from nearl}^ all ^vinds, and light a lire 
without fear of its being put out by the rain, the fine points of 
the evergreen branches not allowing a drop to penetrate so far. 
There is an abundance of game close at hand, and we shall 
clearly be able to kill some stags, since we have come across big 
thigh-bones which the wolves have not taken the trouble to 
crunch. Moreover, there is delicious water and plenty of wood 
ready to hand. 



CHAPTER II. 



TO KOUELA. 

A Good Camping -Ground— Tent Life — Arrival of Two Torgutes— Death of a Camel- 
Concerning Obos — The Gorge of the Kabchigue-gol — A Native at His Devotions — 
The Gliadik— Farewell to the Torgutes — A Pan-Turkish Emi^ire — Yakoob-Beg. 

Septemher 24. — After a brief stage, 
having found a suitable spot, we halt 
I ^ to prepare for crossing the pass. I 
^ \ may say, once for all, that by " a 
suitable spot " I mean one where we 
can pitch our tent upon fairly level 
ground, sheltered from the wind or 
the snow, and, if possible, close to 
wood and water. A splendid camp- 
ing-ground such as this is not to be 
forgotten, and we remained here two 
days, busied on various repairs, ex- 
aminino; the horses' shoes and substi- 
tuting new ones where required, and 
taking care that there is not a nail 
„,.^^„ loose or missing;. The backs of the 

IMATCH. ~ 

beasts of burden and horses are care- 
fully inspected ; where the saddles gall, they are rectified, and 
the wounds are dressed ; the saddle-bags and packing canvas 
are sewn where torn. 

Our old camel-drivei', the bandy-legged Imatch, who would 
not part from the camels we had bought of his master, looks 
after his charges Avith genuine affection. They know him, and 
when he calls to them in the steppe at feeding-time, they come 
to him like fowls to the henwife. 

Some of our men are already indisposed, and it happens that 

25 




26 ACEOSS THIBET. 

these are the most lazy of the whole troop. They are very 
anxious to be sent back with the guides given us by the Gover- 
noi", who are returning. However, they must go with us beyond 
the pass, as we cannot afford to reduce our staff just now. 

We have been leading a tent-life for barely ten days, and 
already we have got accustomed to it and have learnt to like it. 
And yet our tent is neither large nor comfortable. About the 
height of an average-sized man, it is sufficiently long and broad 
to enable all three of us to lie upon the felt, to eat out of the 
single pot around which we gather, and to sip our tea without 
rubbing elbows. Our shelter consists of a good piece of canvas 
sewn double, and that suffices to protect us from the bad weather, 
and to give us the sensation of being in a well-protected room 
while the rain is pelting and the wind howling outside. 

The departure of the two guides provided by the Governor of 
Hi created a void, which was at once filled up by the arrival of 
two Torgutes. They came to our encampment on horseback, 
with their rifles slung across the shoulder, and with a long coil 
of hair hanging down the back. Approaching our men's fire, 
they began to converse with them in the Mongolian language, 
and, after having had some tea, said, in reply to our questions, 
that five days before they found four of their best horses miss- 
ing, so they went in search of them. Emei'ging from the valley 
of the Yulduz, where their tents were pitched, they found traces 
of horses, but without knowing whether they were theirs or not. 
So they resolved to visit the valley of the Tsakma, thinking that 
the thieves had passed that way. As a matter of fact, the}^ dis- 
covered traces northward — that is to say, in the direction of the 
Kirghiz of the Kungez. But, rain falling, they could not trace 
them any further, so they returned, being certain that they could 
catch us up, for they saw that we had camels. 

Upon our asking them why the Kirghiz had stolen their 
horses, they said it had always been so, and they could not in- 
dulge in reprisals, for the Kirghiz were the stronger. Formerly 
they lived in complete security in this valley of the Tsakma.. 



TWO T0ROUTE8. 27 

Then the Kirghiz came, and at first occnpied part of it, but then 
they wanted to take the whole of it. For some time there was 
a constant interchange of robberies and murders between the 
two peoples, until at last the Chinese authorities intervened and 
decided that the only means of re-establishing peace was to 
compel the two parties to quit the pastures. ^' Since that time," 
they added, "neither Mongols nor Kii'ghiz have lighted their fires 
in the valley of the Tsakma." 

We had no difficulty in inducing the two Torgutes to remain 
with us and show us the way. They were much interested in 
what went on around them — in the arms which were being 
furbished, in the birds Avhich were being stuffed, while they were 
surprised at finding the shin from the leg of a stag which Prince 
Henry had killed being preserved. They exchanged remarks 
when they observed the terrible effect produced by the bullet of 
the express-rifle, and then, chin on hand, feasted their eyes upon 
the palao-meat which was cooking nicely in the pot, the sight of 
this completing our conquest of them. 

Septemher 25. — To-day, after going up hill and down dale, we 
gradually climb to the pass, which Rachmed and myself consider 
very easy by comparison with many others. A strong cold wind 
gets up from the W.N.W. — that is to say, at our back — but we 
are on a desolate steppe, where we can find neither a shrub nor 
anything else which can help to combat the cold that is begin- 
ning to be unpleasant. On the other hand, we come upon some 
very pretty flowers, lovely wild pansies and edelweiss that would 
delight the heart of an Alpinist. In the evening we encamp on 
the banks of the Yulduz, which we reach by descending a path 
free from stones. The clouds conceal from us the mountains, 
which shut in the valley, and this does not add to the attractive- 
ness of the view. We are glad to huddle away in a deep goige, 
for the wind is most cutting. 

Before night-time all our camels have come in, but one of 
them, purchased at Kuldja, is ill, and he drops as soon as he has 
got in. His bui'den is removed, ])ut he cannot rise. There is a 



■28 ACROSS THIBET. 

divergency of opimou as to whether he will recover, and the 
interpreter, who knows all about everything, says : " Wait a 
minute, and I will tell you. The hairs of his tail will indicate 
to you what his fate will be." 

He pulls out a few of these hairs and examines them, after- 







THE YULDUZ VALLEY. 



ward pressing them between the thumb and the forefinger, close 
to the root, and rubbing his two fingers together. 

" I can assure you that he will die." 

"AVhy?" 

" Because I had no difficulty in pulling out the hairs, because 
the adipose tissue adheres to the I'oot of the hairs, which indi- 
cates a fatal sickness." 

The face of the little interpreter glows with satisfaction at 
having given proof of his sagacity, and in the meanwhile our 
poor camel is in his death-throes, exciting the pity of his driver, 
who puts a sheepskin under his head for a pillow. The dying 



DEATH OF A CAMEL. 29 

beast's eye is dilated and lie loses coRsciousness. He struggles 
as he lies, and one would fancy tliat all tlie thoughts of his past 
existence were chasing one another huniedly thi^ough his brain. 
He seems as if anxious to go through all the acts which have 
been so often reiterated as to have become habits with him. He 
makes an effort to rise, he kicks his legs in the air as if to walk, 
he moves his jaws as if to eat, he seeks to make a noise in the 
throat as if to ruminate ; but the gaze fades away, the eye closes, 
and the good servant gasps in death. 

The two Torgutes, who are Buddhists, look on with much 
sadness, and mumble some kind of a prayer — or, rather, a few 
words wishing a safe journey to the soul which is on the point 
of transmigration. That does not prevent them, as soon as the 
soul has taken its flight, fi'om stripping the skin off the body 
which held it. As the soul has fled, what could it matter ? 

September 26. — To-night we have a minimum of fom^ degrees 
below zero, and when they wake up the men complain of the 
cold. We follow the valley, which continues to run through the 
steppe, and, gradually getting further away from the Yulduz, the 
Avaters of which flow over sand and pebbles, we encamp on the 
banks of the Zakiste-gol, a river abounding in fish. On the way 
we meet the caravan of an important lama, and make him very 
uneasy by proceeding to photograph him. Prince Henry succeed- 
ing none the less. These worthy lamas, with their pointed head- 
gear, seem to us to be a little the worse for drink. 

The landscape remains much the same ; for we are still on the 
steppe shut in by mountains, bare, and in places quite Avhite 
with salt, Avhile in places there are peat-pits, where the water is 
either stagnant or runs oft' very slowly. We notice some arkar 
horns on the ground, but Ave have no time to go in pursuit of 
these animals on the mountains. 

September 28. — This evening AA^e encamp beyond the dried- 
up bed of the river Borokuste, and find plenty of grass for 
the camels and hisiah (droppings) for the fire. To the north 
Ave can see on the sides of the mountain an inscription in 



30 ACROSS THIBET. 

very large letters. These are the sacred sayings of the Bud- 
dhists, which believers can decipher miles off. Never in my 
life have I seen such big letters ; all the slopes of the Tien- 
Chan would scarcely be sufficient to print a whole book. 
The Buddhists like to manifest their devotion in the open aii', 
and when we leave the valley to reach by a pass the defile of 
Kabchigue-gol, we meet obos, or heaps of stones, upon most of 
which prayers have been engraved, at each culminating point of 
the undulating ground. 

These obos are generally placed on an eminence, at one of 
those spots where the beasts of burden are allowed to halt 
and get breath. Advantage is often taken of these halts to 
make a light collation; after that, prayers are offered that the 
road may be a good one, when starting on a journey, while 
thanks are returned because it has been good, if the journey 
is ending. By way of showing respect or gratitude to the 
divinity, stones are heaped up, and a pole is often placed in 
the ground, with a prayer written on a piece of canvas tied to 
the end of it ; those who follow after add more stones. Workmen 
specially employed, and traveling lamas, engrave prayers upon 
slabs and deposit them at the spot. Thus the obo is constituted, 
and the shepherds, the travelers, and the tribes on the march 
swell its proportions every time they pass, the heaps of stones 
gradually acquiring such colossal proportions that they have the 
appearance of monuments. Many Buddhists deposit there images 
of Buddha, and of Tsong Kaba, the great reformer ; and small 
pyramids of earth represent chapels, as I was informed. Othei's 
deposit carved fragments of horn, pieces torn off their garments, 
bits of horsehair (which they tie on to a stick), or anything 
which comes handy to them ; and when they are making the 
presentation they offer up prayer. 

In order to reach the defile of Kabchigue-gol — a word which 
we are told means " river of the uaiTow place " — we follow the 
left side of the valley. The road, which is fairly good, winds along 
the spurs of the mountain, with a view to the right of the valley 



GOBGE OF THE KABCIIIGUEOOL. 33 

where the Torgiites have their tents, with their flocks and herds 
roaming over the green steppe. The sun is shining in all its 
splendor, and its heat seems excessive after the severe cold of the 
previous night. We have only to look behind us to be convinced 
that this fine weather will not last, for we can see the dark mass 
of a storm coming upon us from the extremity of the valley. The 
wind howls, the sleet and then the snow beat down upon us, 
with all the severity of winter. Fortunately we have reached 
the summit of the pass — those of us, at least, who have horses, 
for the camels come at a slower rate and do not alter their 
pace. 

The fury of the storm is intensified at the very moment I 
reach the large obo Avhich indicates the beginning of the descent. 
I am alone, and the opportunity for helping myself to some of 
the numerous stones with prayers engraved upon them is too 
good to be resisted. But I had ]"eckoned without the spirit of the 
mountain, who makes my horse so restive that he will not move 
a step forward. I determine to dismount and tie him up some- 
w^here, but there is nothino; to be found which would answer the 
purpose ; so I getTip again, and once more endeavor to bring him 
up to the obo, but the noise of the stones striking against one 
another in the wind frightens him again, and, after losing my 
astrachan cap, I have to give up the attempt in despair. All 
these incidents did not prevent us from meeting in the evening 
beneath the willows of Kabchigue-gol. 

October 2. — We have remained at this spot for three days, 
partridges swarming and enabling the guns of our party to 
make large bags ; they are gray in color and very succulent. A 
great many thrushes, tomtits, and wagtails people the brushwood 
and trees growing on the mountain- side. We are in the country 
of the Torgutes, and the two who have accompanied us have 
their tent in this pass. They are not rich, but own a few head 
of stock— horses, cows, and sheep. They are the descendants of 
the Kalmucks, who left the steppes of the Volga in 1779, and 
found their way back after much hardship to the land of Hi. 



34 ACROSS THIBET. 

Those nomads that we meet have preserved a vague souvenir 
of this great exodus, and they tell us that they came from the 
country of the Grosses (Russians), " w^here we left the people of 
our race. It is about 200 years that we have inhabited the 
Tien-Chan." But they can give us no details ; they have forgot- 
ten the sufferings and the energy of their ancestors. They show 
us their square caps with laps for the eai'S in sheepskin, and they 
assert that this form of headdress comes to them from the Rus- 
sians. This shows how difficult it is to get authentic informa- 
tion as to the history of Asia. 

We are not sorry to leave this narrow gorge of Kabchigue- 
gol, despite its wildness and picturesqueness, and its wonderful 
spring, which cures rheumatism, and which is called Archan- 
buluk (that is to say, " the spring of healing "). We meet a few 
patients here, Mongolians of small stature, well built, with very 
small hands and feet — not the broad hands of the toiler, but the 
elongated hands of the unoccupied. Theii^ head is very much like 
a round bit of wood which has scarcely had the corners squared 
off, their cheek-bones prominent, their eyes imperceptible, and 
when seen in profile, it is scarcely possible to distinguish the 
nose. A lama owns a small hut near the spring, under an elm 
tree, and he is at once the consulting physician and the manager 
of this primitive bathing establishment. From him we learn that 
the young Khan, who is the heir of the Torgutes, has started on 
a pilgrimage for Thibet. 

Making a start, we emerged from the defile on to the steppe, 
the approach to which Avas heralded three-quarters of a mile in 
advance by bunches of yantag, upon which the camels fed with 
manifest delight. The change is a very brusque one, for all of 
a sudden we are amid stones, sand, and a vast horizon; the 
temperature has already risen, and while an hour ago the air was 
fresh and pleasant we now begin to sweat. Marching along 
beside a narrow channel for irrigation, we reach a surface dotted 
with reed-beds, where the Torgutes are busy upon the wheat 
harvest, and encamp upon fallow ground, close to a fine elm 



A NATIVE AT HIS DEVOTIONS. 



35 



with an obo beside it. Under the shade of the tree is a sort of 
altar, analogous to the ara of the Romans, in the hollow part of 
which we can see ashes and charcoal, odoriferous plants being 
burnt upon it in honor of the divinity. Resting against the 
trunk of the tree is a whole bundle of sticks with rags and slabs 
of wood, with prayers written on them, while on the branches are 
a number of skins of lambs and goats, in an advanced state of 
decomposition, which have been hung there as votive offerings. 




Toward evening, at the hour when one is inclined to reverie, my 
attention is excited by a murmur which seems to be drawing 
nearer and nearer in the tall grass. A man appears, well 
advanced in years, the shoulders bent, and a chaplet in his hand. 
He casts an uneasy glance at me, but without breaking off his 
murmuring, and, standing upright before the obo, he tells his 
beads ; then, going up to the tree, stoops down and rubs his 
forehead with the sap which he has let run on to his fingers from 
the bark. He next picks up two or three leaves, presses them in 



36 



AGEOSS THIBET. 



his hand, and, having again looked at us, makes off without saying 
a word, muttering as he goes, " Om mane padme houm " — a phrase 
which thousands of men repeat all their lives without under- 
standing its meaning, but believing that they are insuring their 
future salvation. In the course of the day Prince Heniy had 
great difficulty in photographing some of the Torgutes who were 
prowling about our bivouac. Only one of them would accept the 









-^1^^:^ .:r,^' ^5^ 



SANDHILLS AT KOURLA. 



money we offered him, and was willing to sit for his photograph. 
They do not understand the box which is turned upon them, and 
they generally make off at the sight of it with terror depicted on 
their countenance. Like children, savages are always afraid of 
what they do not understand ; and if the person photographed 
should happen to fall ill in the course of the year his illness 
would be attributed to " that box the Europeans had with them." 
We observe that the young men in some cases wear a sort of silver 
ornament in the left ear, and we are told that this is an engage- 



^1 



THE GHADIK. 37 

ment to marry the young girl wlio has received the fellow- 
eari'ing as a present. 

October 3. — We are again on the steppe, where we see the 
thorny plant which the nomads call toida hidriilc (camel's tail) 
and the sweet yautag, on which our camels I'evel whenever they 
get the chance. Then the approach to the river Ghadik, whose 
waters fall into the lake of Karachar, is announced to us by tents, 
saMis,'^' and cultivated fields. The Ghadik, as it runs down 
from the Tien-Chan, ramifies over a considerable surface, as if 
delighted to be at liberty in the open plain, and it embraces a 
great number of islands which are almost buried beneath a 
vegetation quickened by periodical inundations. We encamp in 
the tall grass of one of these islands, our tent being shut in by a 
thick grove of willows, elms, tamarisks, jujube, and licorice trees. 
There is no trace of any paths upon this archipelago, for they 
have been effaced by the ^vaters, and we requisition some 
Torgutes to guide us through this grassy labyrinth. 

We emerged from it in about two hours, after having crossed 
several arms of the river, which are very deep at flood-time, and 
which are certainly not fordable then. In fact, Ave are told that 
when the snows melt the Ghadik forms a regulai' lake, with the 
tops of the trees just emerging out of the water. The pasturage 
is excellent, and constitutes the wealth of the tribes grouped 
around the king of the Torgutes. 

We had no sooner crossed the last iriigating canal which de- 
rives its waters from the Ghadik than the desert began. The 
transition is a very sharp one, and there is a difference of 
temperature before we have gone a hundred yards. Behind us 
the ail' is moist and comparatively warm, but now it is dry and 
very keen. A path which has been trodden in by camels, at an 
epoch when the soil was softened by rain, winds its way upward 

* The name of saJdi is given to the walled square within which the tents and the 
flocks are inclosed during the winter. In most cases some sort of a sheltei' or hut is 
built in one corner, which serves as a shed or cooking-place when the cold is very 
severe. 



38 AGEOSS THIBET. 

to a deeper depression, running in a S.S.E. direction, in a small 
mountain chain very. abrupt and denuded. 

Beyond, there is a sort of valley without ^vater, sandy, and 
skii^ted by elevations of the soil, which are full of deep furrows 
and seem crumbling away, with the appearance of some abandoned 
city whose monuments are falling to ruins. 

Further on, in the land of the black tree {Kara motouii), a 
name given to a species of elm planted along the irrigating 
watercourses, we again enconnter the Torgutes. The last of the 
Mongolian Torgutes are to be found here ; they cultivate a few 
plots of the land, which is not very fertile, for it is a mixture of 
salt. A number of tall, well-set-up men, with black bushy beards, 
come round our bivouac ; they are the first we have seen since 
leaving Siberia and Kuldja. 

They enter into conversation with our men in Turkish, 
greeting them in the Mohammedan fashion, and one of them at 
once makes off, and speedily returns with some melons which 
recall those of Turkestan by their oblong shape and delicious 
taste. We all of us— French, Russians, Tarantchis, Kirghiz, and 
Uzbegs — are pleased at this meeting with men whom we feel 
to be closer to us than the Mongolians. We feel as if we had 
met some old acquaintances, and a verj^ merry evening is 
passed. 

If the principle of nationalities — determined by the unity of 
the language — ever prevails among those who speak Turkish, 
if a kingdom be reconstituted out of the scattered members of 
this great nation, the monarch or the caliph of it will never see 
the sun set upon his dominions, and he will command a countless 
host of valiant warriors. But they would be scattered over 
more than three-fourths of the surface of the Old World, and 
that would render it difficult to mobilize them in the event of 
war. 

October 5. — To-day we have entered upon the last stage which 
separates us from Kourla. We again traversed a corner of the 
desert, and, as yesterday, low chains of crumbling marl, also 



YAKOOB-BEQ. 39 

having tlie aspect of turrets, cupolas, and mausoleums. Before 
getting near to tlie Kutclie-Darya, upon a heiglit commanding a 
full view of tlie plain, we could distinguisli the remains of a 
fort of dry brick, built by Yakoob the "blessed one," also 
surnamed the " dancer " by the people of the Ferghana. 

This man was made in the mold to do great things, and 
Prjevalsky, the celebrated Russian traveler, was struck with his 
intelligence when he had an interview with him at Kourla in 1877. 
The good fortune of Yakoob was prodigious, though his rise was 
slow, inasmuch as he was a man of mature age when he became 
master of Kashgar and Chinese Turkestan. During the few years 
that he governed this country he displayed no ordinary activity, 
covering it with useful buildings, tracing canals, and organizing 
an army after the European model, having recruited, through 
the intermediary^ of the Sultan, officers in all countries of Europe. 
Several came from Turkey, and a member of the present French 
Chamber of Deputies was on the point of being employed by 
Yakoob-Beg. Heaven only knows what would have happened if 
this hardy Uzbeg had not been checked in his career. He would 
certainly have got together the " twelve thousand good soldiers " 
whom Lord Hastings in his day considered sufficient for the con- 
quest of China (this was Prjevalsky's estimate also of what would 
be required), and we should have witnessed the constitution of a 
Turco-Mongolian state, which would have extended from the 
Terek-Davan to the north of the Pamir to the Grulf of Petchili. 
But Allah had decided that Yakoob was not to go beyond 
Kourla, and it was there that he closed his interesting career 
in the fortress built by him, which still exists. He died of 
poison administered by his Prime Minister, to whom the Chinese 
made alluring promises which they took good care not to 
keep. 

In Yakoob's lifetime the people were dissatisfied at having 
been roused out of the state of torpor so agreeable to the people 
of Asia. Now, this same people, which is under the administra- 
tion of the Chinese, regret the " good time " of the Badoulet 



40 



ACBOSS THIBET. 



(tlie " blessed one "), who is spoken of as having been a great 
man, while the " bakchi " sing his great deeds at the festivals. 
The people are so anxious for a fresh master that they ask us, 
hailing from the West as we do, if " the Russians are soon com- 
ing to take us ? " 




. H ^Kp/i 



A MONGOLIAN LAMA. 



H 



CHAPTER III. 



TO TCHAEKALIK. 

Kourla— In the Bazaar — Provisioning the Caravan — Parpa — Visit from the Akim of 
Kourla : A " Maudarinade " — Tehinagai — Music in tlie Camp — A Forest of Pop- 
lars — Crossing tlie Kutche-Darya and tlie Intchigue-Darya — Aktarma — The River 
Tarim — Tlie "Silk Plant" — Arkan— Hard Words and Blows Compared — Talkit- 
chin— The Hat of the Tarim— At Tcharkalik. 

October 6. — Kourla is a small town 
situated in a fine oasis. It is traversed 
by the Kutche-Darya, over which a 
wooden bridge has been built, con- 
necting the suburbs on the left bank 
with the bazaars and the fortress 
on the right. The population is a 
mixture of Chinese, Dounganes, and 
Tarantchis ; but, as the Mussulmans 
form the majority, the chief of the 
town (the Akim) is of that persua- 
sion. It was he who came and laid 
siege to us upon our arrival, not giv- 
ing us time to enjoy the satisfactions 
and pleasures which an oasis always 
offers to those who have crossed the 
desert ; and Kourla is charming, with its gardens, its green trees, 
its fine river, and its bazaars, where are to be found melons, 
apples, figs, grapes, and apricots, which nomads like om^selves 
find so delicious. 

We arrived in the night of this day (the 5th October), having 
done a stage of nearly thirty-five miles. We are lodged in the 
house of a Mussulman who is a Russian subject and a merchant 
in the town. 

41 




KOURLA WOMEN. 



42 AGMOSS THIBET. 

October 6, — To-day we received a great many inquisitive visit- 
ors. We learn tliat the authorities ai'e summoned to meet at 
the Yamen in the evening to take counsel together concerning us, 
and the chief asks permission to pay us a visit the next morning. 

AVe find ourselves in the first bazaar we have seen since we left 
Kuldja, and we shall not encounter another after we make a fresh 
start. So we buy and buy in preparation for Thibet, and, with- 
out losing an hour, hire twenty-two camels, to carry our pur- 
chases. Among these purchases are 1600 Russian pounds of 
bread, done down in fat and salt, made up into small cakes about 
as thick as the finger and as broad as the palm of a man's hand. 
The reason of their being made so small is that a biscuit of this 
size is easy to stow away ; it can, if necessary, be placed up the 
sleeve on the march, for it may happen that while one is munch- 
ing it one may have to pick up one's gun or whip. Moreover, it 
represents in size almost exactly what the appetite demands, and 
not an atom is lost. The salt aids the digestion, and the fat is, 
of course, a preventive against cold. The purchases also include 
520 pounds of the best flour, which will be kept in reserve, for 
we shall only use these provisions at the last extremity; 280' 
pounds of mutton, salted and done up in skins; 160 pounds of 
small raisins, very delicate in flavor, with no pips, called " kich- 
mich," which will be mixed with rice, and only distributed later, 
when the cold, the salt meat, the forced marches, and the great 
altitude have brought about that state of weakness which is so 
like scurvy ; 80 pounds of salt, though we are pretty safe to find 
plenty in the desert, upon the surface of the soil, or on the shores 
of the lakes; 80 pounds of sesamum oil for hasty puddings; 
tobacco, bags, pieces of felt, and 6000 pounds of barley for our 
horses, although the interpreter Abdullah, and a man named 
Parpa, an inhabitant of Kourla, tell us that we need not concern 
ourselves about them. 

This Parpa was formerly in the service of Carey and Dalgleish, 
the English travelers, and we have engaged him in the hope that 
he will furnish us with useful information. This adventurer. 



VISIT FROM THE AKIM OF KOURLA. 



43 



with a long black beard, very taciturn, and with a tragic air, is a 
native of the Ferghana, and he came with Yakoob-Beg into 
Chinese Turkestan. He gets the horses shod, makes saddles for 
the camels, and has the reputation of being a brave man. 

The preparations are rapidly completed ; we have treated with 
a Doungana whom we are to pay a high price, but he will bring 




A BIT OP THE TARIM. 



with him three servitors, two Dounganas and one Turkish Mus- 
sulman from the Oasis of Hami. 

October 7. — Returning to the house to-day, we find the servants 
of the Akim, who announce the coming of their master. Soon 
afterward there arrive, followed by an escort, some mandarins, 
dressed in the Mohammedan style, but with the Chinese head- 
dress — a globular hat, and wearing the pigtail, which is the 
mark of vassaldom that the Chinese insist on from the Moham- 
medans, whose head is generally shaved. So the head men of the 
town, most of them advanced in years, enter our room. We 
offer them seats on the white felt which has been unrolled for 



44 



ACROSS THIBET. 



tliem, and wait for them to question us, without uttering a word. 
They begin the conversation in Chinese, politely asking as to our 
health, congratulating us upon having made a safe journey, and 




INHABITANTS OF KOTJRLA. 



promising us their help. Between whiles their attendants place 
before us an offering of dried fruits, melons, and almonds, in ac- 
cordance with the custom of Turkestan. We thank them with 
the utmost cordiality for their good-nature, and then wait to see 



COMPLICATIONS. 45 

what is to follow. It is easy to see that the chiefs are somewhat 
embarrassed ; they exchange a few words, and then the one who 
is highest in rank begins to make a rather solemn speech, pointing 
ont that it is a habit to ask strangers for their papers. To which 
I reply that it is a \^ery good custom, as it is impossible to take 
too many precautions ^vith regard to strangers who come on to 
the territory of others. As concerns ourselves, he has seen by 
our cards on red paper, and written in Chinese characters, that 
one of us is a prince allied to the Kings of the West, and that he 
must be aware that the White Pasha has facilitated our passage 
thi^ough his states, and that we hope the Emperor of China will 
not be less obliging. Although we did not understand why 
papers should be demanded of us at Kourla, after we had been 
allowed to cross the frontier and go through the province of Hi, Ave 
were williug, in order to please him, as he was so kind to us, to 
let him have the general pass, which had been seen by the Gov- 
ernor of the province of Hi. He asked our leave to keep it, which 
we give all the more readily because we know from Prjevalsky 
and others that in China papers are only of service at places 
where they are not required. After an interchange of respectful 
and dignified greetings the chiefs go off. 

What will happen to-morrow? We foresee complications, 
and Rachmed, who is much affected by all this, fully realizes our 
position. He says, "It is the beginning of the ' old story,' and 
the Chinese are going to bother us as much as they can. It is 
not surprising on the part of people who eat pork." And so 
Rachmed rattles on, loading with opprobrium this people, which 
allows its women to have wooden legs, which emits an odor in- 
tolerable to a true Mussulman, and so on. 

The chief result of this interview is to make us hurry forward 
our preparations, for we have seen the advance-guard to-day ; the 
declaration of war will be brought us to-morrow. 

The same evening before sunset the chiefs of Kourla arrive in 
full dress, and, almost before the greetings have been exchanged 
and the cu]3S of tea served, the Akini tells us to visit the Gover- 



46 ACROSS THIBET. 

nor of Karachar before continuing our journey. We reply that 
the Governor is a person of too little consequence for us to turn 
aside from oui' route to go and see him. "If he wishes to say 
anything to us, let him come and say it. Moreovei", he must 
have seen our papers." 

" Your papers are of no value, and, to tell you the truth, here 
is the order to arrest you which has arrived from Ouroumitchi at 
Karachar." 

AVe display great surprise at this, and ask him to let one of 
our men read this order. And then the conversation is resumed 
as follows : 

" Where is our pass then ? " 

" At Karachar." 

" Well, we shall keep your order until you have restored the 
paper we confided to you, for you have it in your joossession, and 
you are not speaking the truth." 

I accordingly take the order, put it into my pocket, and re- 
quest them to go. 

The small Chinese mandarin who had brought it gets as pale 
as his yellow complexion admits of his doing, and begs us to re- 
store it, making a motion with his hand across his throat as much 
as to say that he will lose his head if he does not get the order 
back. I repeat that he shall have it if they restore us our pass, 
and when they again deny having it we make them leave, saying 
that the sun has set, and that we want to rest. 

They go off very crestfallen, and a few minutes later one of 
the chiefs retm'us, holding the pass in his hand. He offers it to 
us and we take it back, promising to restore him his order, but 
only the next day, in order that we may have it photographed. 
This photograph is reproduced, and the translation has been 
made by the Marquis d'Hervey de St. Deuys. It is as follows : 

"I, Han, sub-prefect, having the honorary title of Foutchi, 
fulfilling the duties of prefect of the district of Kola-Chacul 
(Karachar), have received from the temporary governor Wei an 
order thus conceived : ' At the present time, a prince of the 



A CHINESE WARRANT. 



47 



blood in tlie kingdom of France, Ken-li-lio (Henry), traveling 
witliont a Chinese passport and on his own initiative, is making 
toward Lo-pon-ta-cul (Lob Nor). I order the local authorities, 
in no matter what place the French prince may be found, to pre- 




A CHINESE WARRANT. 



vent him continuing his route and to turn him back.' In conse- 
quence of this order my duty is to send out agents to gather 
information, and I accordingly direct two agents to proceed at 
once to Kou-cul-li (Kourla), and to act in concert with the Mus- 



48 ACROSS THIBET. 

siilman chiefs of this locality in order to inspect the country. If 
the French prince is met, his progress must be arrested, and he 
must be prevented penetrating any further and compelled to turn 
back. The agents must not be guilty of negligence or delay? 
under pain of incurring penalties. This must not be disobeyed. 
Twice recommended, and his instructions are given to Tchang- 
Youy, and to A-li. They will take care to conform to them. 
The eighth day of the ninth moon of the fifteenth year of Kou- 
ang-Sin. Valid until the return, to be afterward given back 
and annulled." 

I might, with reference to this order, say a good deal as to 
the perfidy of the Chinese with regard to Europeans of all kinds, 
even to Europeans who have behaved generously toward man- 
darins. But it would be a waste of space, for in the course of 
this narrative the reader will have opportunities of appreciating 
at its proper value the administration of provinces remote from 
the frontier and the coast. Thus, on the northern frontier, one 
encounters, side by side with the mandarins, Russian consuls who 
command not only respect but obedience, while on the coast 
there are consuls and persons of all nationalities who maintain 
amicable relations with the mandarins. But in the interior of 
the empii'e the situation is not the same. 

October 8. — The chiefs of Kourla, with the Akim at their head, 
return to see us again, and we restore to them the order. They 
repeat that we cannot continue our route. We reply that nothing 
will stop us from going to the Lob Nor, where we wish to enjoy 
the chase. When we are ready, we shall load om- beasts and 
start, and if any effort is made to stop us by force there wall be 
bloodshed, and the blood mil be upon their heads. We are not 
evil-doers ; we do no harm to anyone, and why should we not 
enjoy the immunities accorded to the smallest of traders ? We 
tell the Akim that this is our ultimatum, and bid him reflect. 
He hangs his head down, and, dropping the Chinese language in 
his emotion, says in his native Turkish : " I am only executing 
the orders given me. I do not wish you any harm. I can see 



BEADY FOR A START. 49 

yoii are not bad people. What would you have me do 'I I am 
in a cruel position, for my life is at stake. Truly, I am like the 
nut between two stones ; by Allah, I am." 

And he heaves a sigh which does not seem to be assumed. 

" Help me," he went on to say. " I will go to Karachar and 
see my superior. Let one of youi' party come with me ; he will 
explain things, and, by the help of Allah, matters will all be 
arranged." 

" It is impossible to do as you ask, Akim," I reply, " for the 
explanations are already given. We do not in any way recognize 
your sub-prefect ; and the step would be quite useless, for if one 
of us Avere to go to Karachar, and your superior persisted in stop- 
ping us, we should start just the same." 

The chief and his companions then rose and took leave of us. 

October 9. — A fresh visit from the Akim, wdio insists, with a 
pretty firm air, upon our retracing our steps. Upon our cate- 
gorically refusing, he gets up, without pressing the matter any 
further, and says that he shall have to resort to force — a threat 
which makes us laugh. 

The Aksakal of the Russian subjects in Kourla then inter- 
venes, and tells us that he has been threatened with ha\dng a 
chain put round his neck and being dragged off to Karachar if 
he lends us assistance. A strong force arrives from Karachar to 
reenforce the feeble garrison of Kourla, which consisted of sixty 
soldiers, who seemed to us more or less stupefied with opium. 

We hurry on our preparations for starting. The purchases 
are completed, the saddles for the camels are sewn, and there is 
nothing to delay us any longer. At nightfall a delegation of 
chiefs, including the Aksakal of the Russian subjects, come and 
make a formal remonstrance with us, but at last they see that we 
are firmly resolved not to let ourselves be stopped. 

After supper we let the men sleep until midnight, and then 
wake them up and give them orders to get all the loads ready, 
and not to utter a word. All the preliminaries of the start are 
soon got through. A few hours later I get up without making 



50 ACROSS THIBET. 

tlie sliglitest noise, aud satisfy myself for the nonce that the 
soundest sleepers have sharp ears. 

October 10. — At daylight all our camels and horses are ready, 
well shod and well saddled. The news of our startius; soon 
spreads through the town, and the caravan is organized in the 
presence of a multitude which invades our courtyard, and which 
we are obliged to drive out with a good stout stick. Some pick- 
pockets have managed to sneak up to our things and steal what- 
ever they can conceal about their persons. We prevent the 
recurrence of this by creating a void about us. Our attitude is 
at the same time a warning to the mandarins that we are pre- 
pared for any eventuality as yesterday. 

Having been sent to the bazaar to procure a few delicacies, 
our Chinaman returns and says that the merchants are of opinion 
that the Akim has arranged the matter very well, for he has in- 
duced us to write to Karachar. I forgot, as a matter of fact, to 
mention yesterday that we had promised to send a few lines of 
explanation to the sub-prefect of Karachar. This letter had 
been translated into Turkish and Chinese, and we stated in it 
our intention of going to shoot in the neighborhood of the Lob 
Nor, where we should remain long enough for all the necessary 
papers to arrive from Pekin or elsewhere. The Akim's friends 
consider that he has managed matters very adroitly, that he has 
gained a diplomatic victory ; in short, to use the language of the 
country, that "he has had the wit to preserve the face and to 
add a plume to his hat," 

The loading of the beasts of burden is completed, the presents 
have been distributed to our hosts and acquaintances, the men 
leap into the saddle, raise their hands to their beards, exclaiming 
" Allah is great ! " And so en route for the Lob Nor, 

Two of our men who are riding the best horses go on in front. 
They are told not to lose sight of the leading camel-driver, and I 
can see them both. In case of an alert they are to gallop back 
to us, Rachmed will go on ahead of all the rest, to see for him- 
self, when we get close to the gate, Now, the caravan gets into 



m 



LEAVING KOURLA. 53 

motion, and proceeds slowly along tlie street ; the camels pack 
as close to one another as they can, and, swinging their necks 
and rolling from side to side, they methodically glide on 
with their long legs, quite indifferent to the teasing of the 
Chinese, but feeling perhaps the warmth of the superb autumn 
sua. 

On such a delightful day I feel that nothing unpleasant can 
occiu' to us ; Nature is too bright and smiling for that. While 
the camels are ruminating the sweet morning grass, I am rumi- 
nating what remains to be done, and I rejoice inwardly at having 
begun the second stage of our journey, which will terminate at 
the Lob Nor. While watching the idlers posted on the roofs, 
and the women with unveiled faces ^vho are peeping through 
the half-open doors, replying at the same time by a " salaam " to 
the " salaam " of a boy with a merry and good-humored face, and 
by a brandishing of my whip to another not so well-behaved, I 
am reminded of similar starts from similar countries, and my im- 
agination travels at a bound to Turkestan, Bokhara, and Khiva. 
I note here the same faces, the same gestures- and the same 
attitudes as there. I can perceive the same odors emitted from 
their houses, and the vast firmament over our heads is of the 
same inimitable blue, the reflection of which even the turquoise 
cannot reproduce. 

It is impossible that our journey should be rudely interrupted, 
commenced as it is in such bright sunshine ; the earth presents 
itself under too smiling an aspect to deceive us afterward. 

For a little way we skirted the crenelated walls of the town, 
against which are built various earthen huts with creepers grow- 
ing up them, and then we said good-by to Kourla and made 
southward. The road which leads out of the oasis is dusty, and 
it branches out into paths which get lost in the desert, like 
rivulets which dry up a river before it has reached the end 
of its course. 

On reaching the last of the saklis, we bought some sheep from 
a friend of the Aksakal of the Russian subjects. Although we 



54 ACROSS THIBET. 

are certain of having enongli to feed men and beasts as far as tlie 
Lob Nor, it is as well to have with one a small Hock of fat sheep, 
as a matter of precaution ; and then, again, this will enable us to 
purchase others of the natives at a lower figure for our daily 
consumption, foi' when they see that we are not at theii' mercy, 
they will not put up their prices. 

Octoher 11. — AVe had loaded some of our camels when we 
saw the dust rising on the plain in the direction of Kourla, 
and presently recognize the chiefs of Kourla in full dress, ac- 
companied by several horsemen. When they got close to our 
bivouac, they politely dismounted, and one of their attendants 
came to ask for an audience on the part of his masters. This 
we at once granted, and the chiefs advanced with a certain 
degree of haste, no doubt to signify thereby that they were 
nnder the influence of some strong emotion. They had smiling 
faces, they shook hands cordially ^vith us, and leaned forward as 
they did so, their whole attitude being one of sympathy. They 
had no sooner seated themselves on the white felt which had been 
laid down in their honor, the younger ones remaining on their 
feet out of deference, than they hastened to tell us that they had 
come as friends, that they wished us a safe journey and good 
health. They had been compelled to execute the orders sent from 
Karachar, but had done so much against their own inclinations. 
They could see very clearly that we were great personages and 
honest people. One of them invited us to believe that the 
Akim was a very good fellow ; another whispered into the ear 
of one of our men that we should do well to mark our gratitude 
and forgiveness by a few little presents, such as our hosts at 
Kourla had received the day before. 

We thanked them politely and gave orders for presents to be 
handed to the chiefs, as souvenirs of our visit, and at the same 
time asked for a guide to introduce us to ihe. people we should 
meet on the way, and who ^vould facilitate the passage of the 
Kutche-Darya, a river which has no bridges or ferries, and which 
has to be crossed on a raft. 



WE OBTAIN A G UIDE. 



55 



We were at once furnished with a man of about sixty, named 
Ata Rachmed, the same who formerly accompanied Prjevalsky 




TANGI KOtTL. 



in his excursion to the Lob Nor. Our interpreter, Abdullah, 
recognized him and assured us that Eachmed was the best of 



56 ACROSS THIBET. 

men. Formerly attaclied to the person of Yakool^, lie })assed 
into the service of the Aldm of Kourla. 

After having received our small gifts, the chiefs rose to their 
feet, wished us a safe journey once more, and pressed our hands 
very effusively ; they then mounted their horses and cantered 
back toward Kourla, while we packed up oui' things and 
regained our caravan, which was making its way toward the 
small village of Tchinagi. 

Such is the end of what I must style a " mandarinade," for 
this is the only name to give to the series of worries which the 
Chinese mandarins reserve for Europeans in order to prove to 
them that China possesses an " administration." I have related 
this incident too much in detail, perhaps ; but I believe that I 
shall have done a service to future travelers by shoAving that it 
is not well to be alarmed by the threats of the mandarins, and 
that one may travel pretty comfortably in this region of the 
Chinese Empire, always provided that one keeps clear of the 
large centers of population, where a countless population does 
not scruple to commit acts of cowardice and ferocity with the 
certainty of escaping punishment. 

After nine or ten miles of the desert, we bivouacked near the 
village of Tchinagi, on the banks of a canal planted with 
willows. 

At Tchinagi, the aged Ata Rachmed got together a score of 
woebegone men, whom we promised to pay well if they would 
help us to construct our rafts on the Kutche-Darya. Among 
the number was one who had the broad face of the Kirghiz, the 
same small eyes, scanty beard, and guttural way of speaking. 
Upon being questioned he told us that he was a native of the 
neighborhood of Semipalatinsk, and that having come into the 
country in Yakoob-Beg's time, with one of his brothers, he had 
married there and settled in it. '' That's like me," says our 
Russian Borodjin ; " I served at Kuldja and then at Djarkent, 
where I married, and I never returned home to Tobolsk." I 
note this trifling incident in order to point out that, on many 



TCIIINAGI. 57 

■occasions, I liave observed tliat tlie Russians and the Turks 
move from place to place very readily, and especially that they 
soon abandon all idea of returning to theii' native country, even 
when they have left it more or less under compulsion. To 
inhabitants of the vast and monotonous plain, with horizons as 
boundless as those of the sea, it matters little at what point of 
the ocean — for such the plain I'eally is — they may live ; all 
they want is a few birch trees, lighting up the landscape with 
their silver trunks, a river full of fish, the banks of which, covered 
with reeds, give shelter to waterfowl and wild boars, and with 
that a few patches of cultivated ground around the small 
wooden or earthen hut. 

The inhabitants of Tchinagi, who resemble the Sarthians of 
Turkestan, say that they came from Andidjan — that is to say, 
from Ferghana — about a hundred years ago. This does not 
mean anything definite, for Eastern people are incredibly negli- 
gent as to dates. 

An old man talked to us of Russians whom he had seen in the 
country, and we know, as a matter of fact, that some of the old 
believers came as far as the Lob Nor in search of land a lono; 
time ago. Then we listened to some singers who played upon a 
two-stringed guitar, and, as we were free in distributing tea and 
rice, a good part of the village surrounded us, our men dancing 
to the sound of the accordion, after the custom of their country, 
and the evening passing in festivity. Even our old camel-driver, 
carried away by the music, executed a rude sort of a dance with 
his feeble legs, the Chinaman being the only one who ciid not 
stir. Upon our asking him to give us a specimen of the dancing 
in his district, he replied : 

" Oh, we don't dance ; we amuse ourselves by sitting down 
and doing nothing." 

" And what is your music like ? " 

" Oh ! oui' music is very similar to that which you hear." 
And he endeavors to prove this by singing an air, but the effort 
is so unmusical, despite his extreme seriousness, that we cannot 



58 ACROSS THIBET. 

help laugliiug outright. It does not take much to amuse 
travelers. 

After having crossed a strip of desert, we soon reach a regular 
forest of poplars. But they are not the same trees as the French 
poplars ; for these grow on the sand, the bark is all wrinkled, 
and the hollow trunks are covered all over Avith bindweed. 
Their foliage varies very much, for the leaves are oblong in the 
lower branches, and resemble those of the willow, while above 
they are like those of the ordinary poplar. It is Avith these trees 
that we shall have to cou struct our rafts, and this A\ill increase 
the difficulty not a little, for this Pojndus diversifolia is porous 
and dry internally, although its bark is extremely hard, while, if 
it remains long in the water, it sinks to the bottom. 

Upon the ad^dce of an old man who directs the work, and 
who affirms l^y his white beard, three rows of beams are placed 
one upon the other ; they are tied together and flanked by thick 
bundles of reeds, so as to elevate the floating line. The raft will 
only be put into the water at the last moment. In this con- 
juncture our Russians, accustomed to the Avater, like all their 
fellow-countrymen, are very useful to us. As to Rachmed, who 
has nearly been drowned on several occasions, and who has a 
horror of all kinds of navigation, he bemoans his fate, and im- 
plores, with a very comical face, to be allowed to retrace his 
steps, for he is sure he shall be drowned. 

October 12. — The evening is spent in getting together the 
trees which have been cut in the forest, or A\'hich have been hid- 
den away on the river banks. They have already been used for 
making rafts, and the natives drag them to our camp with oxen. 

October 13.— The smaller bas-o-ao-e is loaded in canoes, and a, 
sort of ferry is organized by means of rafts. The raft is covered 
with earth to place our camels under the illusion that they are 
on terra firma. They are not at all fond of the water, and it is 
necessary, even, in order to get them on to the raft, to prepare a 
sort of landiuo^-stao-e with stakes and fao;ots, for the bank is 
steep. At the first attempt we succeed in getting two camels oil 



CROSSING TEE KUFGHEDABTA. 59 

to the raft ; we keep tlieir heads down by pulling at the ring 
placed in their noses. The raft is pulled across by a rope, and 
when the passengers have been landed it is brought back to the 
landing-stage by means of another rope. But this time there is 
the greatest difficulty in getting a camel to advance ; persuasion, 
ruse, and blows are alike powerless, and at last the beast has to 
be carried. But it slips backward, its hind legs dropping into 
the watei', and the rest of its body on the raft, and in this postui'e 
it is pulled across, like a schoolboy lolling over his desk. So w^e 
go on until they have all been got over, the horses as well as the 
sheep swimming across. 

This operation lasts all day, and the work is accomplished in 
very good humor, the Mussulmans interlarding it with the 
pi-ayers to which they are called by their mollah. 

The natives again speak to us of Yakoob-Beg, and it is clear 
that they regret him very much. They would like to be de- 
livered from the Chinese, who, they say, '" eat dogs, and even 
children." 

By nightfall the crossing of the Kutche-Darya is completed, 
and we distribute 'numerous "tips" to the workmen who have 
been employed, leaving them two sheep as well. 

As the Huns and the Tartars mostly had horses, they were 
able to cross the rivers and streams pietty easily. The armies 
which possessed elephants could soon construct rafts, as these 
animals could drag trees along "with their trunks, and probably 
hauled the baggage, and even people, as almost certainly hap- 
pened with Hannibal in crossing the Rhone. The camel of 
Central Asia is made for a desert without water, and he only 
likes rivers that he may drink greedily of them. 

We make for the Lob Nor by the itinerary which Prjevalsky 
and Carey followed. At times we are obliged to diverge from 
it, as inundations have modified the aspect of the country, and 
we prefer making a detour if we can thereby avoid constructing 
a raft. 

Offoher 14. — Our route lies through the tougrak woods, which 



60 ACB0S8 THIBET. 

form a variety to tlie violet tamarisk trees. These tougrak, or 
poplars, are burnt in many places. Flocks of sheep have been 
roaming through the woods, and traces of them ai'e visible upon 
the saline soil, into which the foot sinks as into ashes covered 
ovei" with a light crust. The trees are less thick on the sand- 



sffl^^SKas^BsSB 




rli^ 



CANOE ON THE TARIM. 



hills, for in this region a great many people come and go. In 
the afternoon we cross the Intchigue-Darya, a small river which 
forms another arm of the Tarim, but the crossing is effected by 
a bridge, which is repaired to admit of the camels going over it. 
In the evening we encamp at Goumbas, near a piece of water on 
a bare hill. The natives bring us some trout, and are very well 
satisfied with the pieces of money which we give thein. For 
our bivouac we prefer a clearing where the breeze will rid 
us of the mosquitoes, which bite us to death even under our 
coverings. There is an abundance of waterfowl, wild geese, 
ducks, teal, and cormorants in the reed-beds. This region is very 
sparsely inhabited. 



AKTAEMA. 61 

October 15. — To-day we start for Aktarraa, whicli is noted on 
Prjevalsky's map. It is always the same sandy desert, whicli 
reminds some of us of the Gobi in Mongolia^ others of tlie Kara 
Konm. Like the latter, it is dotted over with numerous tama- 
risk trees, whicli have helped to consolidate the sand-hills. The 
wind and the shrub are at war with each other, the latter seek- 
ing to retain by means of its roots the moving surface of the 
desert, clutching, as it were with tentacles, little heaps of sand 
and solidifying them, while the dust whirls round and the wind 
converts it into a diminutive piece of artillery for besieging the 
fortress. The pools are ver)^ numerous, lending to the plants 
the sustenance of their moisture, and making the struggle less 
nnequal. 

Coming to our first halt, we are advised to make to our right, 
in a westerly direction, and we thread our way between pools 
and pieces of water which remind one of fi^agments of river 
which have suddenly come to a stop, for, when the mnd ruffles 
the water, one would imagine that it was flowing, but when the 
mud drops it is still. But our horizon, up to the present rather 
narrow, opens out, and the plain upon which we enter is, as Ave 
are told, that of Koul-toukmit-Koul. We see green djiddas of a 
very respectable size, while the prickly broom waves its white 
tufts in the depression of the soil, and between the low sand- 
hills runs a fine stream of clear water glistening in the sunlight. 
This is the Tarim, which flows along, as if fatigued by its long 
journey, toward the Lob Nor. One can guess without much 
difficulty that a large lake, or a number of pools, will be formed, 
for this river has no outlet into the ocean. 

Marching away from the Tarim, in the afternoon we arrive at 
Aktarma, indicated in the desert by groups of poplars. A herd 
of cattle announce our approach in a very disagreeable manner, 
ior they make a stampede in front of us, raising a column of 
dust. They are animals of A^ery small stature, and exceedingly 
agile. We see men cultivating small patches of ground impreg- 
nated mth salt, not far from the score or so of huts which con- 



62 AOBOSS THIBET. 

stitute ^vliat is one of tlie most important towns of tlie Tarim. 
These lints, made of I'eecls twisted into linrdles and mnd, are for 
the present deserted. 

The chief of Aktarma, snrronnded by his council, offers ns 
some very insipid melons, and inquires after our health. These 
people are very frightened and suspicious, like the true savages 
they are ; they have round heads and eyes, appearing to be the 
produce of unions between the most divergent tribes, all that 
they have in common being their savage and poverty-stricken 
mien. One would imagine them to be outla^vs who had come 
from all parts, and ^vho had settled here from weariness of 
wandering. They assert that they are Kalmucks by descent, 
but they speak Turkish. Abdullah, who wants to ingratiate 
himself Avith them, says that he is himself a Kalmuck, and that 
the Emir Timoui' was also a Kalmuck, Avhence it is to be con- 
cluded, judging by the tone of our interpreter, that this nation 
has possessed at least two great men — the Emir Timour, long 
since defunct, and Abdullah, our interpreter, the greediest of 
created beings, who asked them to give him some melons for his 
own consumption, and who will fall ill from eating too many of 
them. 

October 16. — We halt all to-day. As the village remains 
deserted, the news of our ariival has, perhaps, frightened away 
the people of Aktarma. But it would appear that at this season 
the population migrates with its flocks and herds tO the banks 
of the Tarim and its pools, men, women, and children fishing, 
shooting, and drying fish for the winter while the cattle and 
sheep are feeding. 

Beyond the wood men are at work digging the ground with 
the same simple implement which one meets with among all 
primitive peoples, consisting of two pieces of wood. The savages 
invented it first of all for delving into the earth and robbing it of 
its treasures. Here the people grow wheat, but not enough for- 
their food, and they have to go and buy more at Kouila, where 
they sell sheepskins, dried fish, and a coarse sort of cloth. They 



i 



THE TARIM. 



63 



groAV a little barley for tlieir horses, wliicli, tliougli not uumerous, 
are sturdy and good for theii' size. 

October 17. — Tlie plain across wMcli we are traveling, witli 
its gray October sky^ f onns a very typical Pomeranian landscape, 
and one might fancy one's self on the shores of the Baltic or the 
North Sea. The horizon is flat, water extends everywhere, and 
the lowlands seem to be floating on their surface, while the banks 






CROSSING AN ARM OF THK TAKlil AT AKKAJn UA AK IMPROVISED RAFT. 

of the river are too low to reo:ulate its course. It would seem as 
if a mere scratch on the bank would suflice to open a way for the 
Tarim. The river is constantly overflowing, or, rather, it spreads 
out and forms pools or lakes in a hundred different spots, as 
evidenced by the name of the village of Yangi Koul (the " new 
lake "). We arrive there along a dusty road, shaded by reed-beds 
and thorns, running thi'ough ground with a good deal of salt on 
the surface, and we have to mud in and out so as to avoid the 
water. The village is perched upon the slope of a sandhill on the 



64 ACEOSS THIBET. 

opposite bank, and the walls of tlie houses, very irregularly built,, 
look as if they were slipping down toward the river. Our arrival 
brings out the whole population, which comes to take a good look 
at us while we are having our tea. The women alone do not 
cross the stream, which is nearly 500 feet wide, but men and boys 
jump into the water and tuck up their clothes so as to reach the 
mole of sand which lines the course of the Tarim. The well-to- 
do, who have boots or shoes to their feet, get themselves carried 
across, or come over in canoes. They bring presents with them, 
including fish both fresh and preserved. One lad has brought a 
wild goose alive, and when, while refusing it, we make him a 
present, he shows our gift to the others, and the ice is broken. 

The natives come so close that I have time to examine them, 
and can see that they are a mixture of all races, with noses and 
eyes of all shapes and colors, as in any large town of the West. 
I detect some regular Kirghiz, thick-set, with scarcely perceptible 
eyes, salient cheek-bones, and scanty beards ; Sarthians mth finer 
figures, and black, bushy beards, while gray eyes are not rare. 
A fair man, with a very fresh complexion and light eyes, wears a 
turned-up cap on his head, and the Siberians themselves are 
struck by his resemblance to a Russian, Moreover, we are told 
that the Russians have been here. 

Our presence excites the greatest curiosity, and the canoes are 
kept busy, bringing the whole of the male population ; and the 
women, clustering on the opposite bank, watch the spectacle, and 
doubtless wish tliat the etiquette of their sex did not prevent 
them from coming across. These people bring us some excellent 
melons and boiled fish, this meal having been prepared for us in 
a hurry. When we eat, the crowd kneel down and watch us with 
almost reverent interest. They exchange remarks in a low tone, 
and appear very pleased to see us, but one of them remarks : 
"Had you been Chinese, we should have made off." After 
making a few presents, we encamped some distance further on, 
on high ground, which is rather dryer. 

October 18. — We traverse Oulong-Koul, the chief of which, a 



UL ONG-KO UL. 65" 

Kirghiz by descent, accords us a hearty reception in his house,, 
made of withes plastered with mud. He has some furniture in 
this house, including an X in wood upon which the Koran is- 
placed, a mat which he unrolls, and which serves both as clotli 
and table, cushions made out of real silk taken from the stem of 
the tchiga (asclepias), and bags made of a sort of ^\dld hemp Avhich 
is very abundant in this region. He drinks his tea out of Kash- 
gar cups, and he has several wives, being altogether an impor- 
tant personage. Although we declined his proffered sheep, we 
offer him in return a present, as it is always Avell to encourage 
srenerous intentions when one is travelina;. 

We were able to observe here the action of the wind upon the 
sands of the Tarim : they are being slowly driven toward the 
northwest, for the prevailing wind is the southeast, though a 
Avind from the southwest is said to blow occasionally. The ao-ed 
chief who gives us this information tells us that tliey pay a tax 
every year to the Chinese ; he acting as intermediary between the 
people and the chief at Kourla. The impost is levied upon the 
crops and the stock, a tenth of the former and a fortieth part o£ 
the latter. 

October 19. — The route does not vary. Whenever we cjuit 
the banks of the river we return to the desert, through planta- 
tations where the tougrak trees, exuding their sap, which the 
natives employ as soap, lift their contorted heads, and past 
undulating sandhills driven along by the wind, but at so slow a 
pace that the natives do not notice their advance until after many 
years. The incidents of the route are the occasional securinof of 
a bird or a mammifer, which goes to enrich our collection. Game 
is fairly abundant. First it is an antelope which springs up 
within shot, and is bagged, while our 7ne7iu is varied by a hare or 
by some Mongolian pheasants. Then we see a wolf, at first 
mistaken for a dog, stealing through the rushes, or the fresh 
trace of a tiger, which makes us take extra precautions at night. 
We come across European birds, too, such as fieldfares and larks, 
while there is no lack of waterfowl. We have excellent camping- 



m ACROSS THIBET. 

ground, thoiigli the water is often bad, and not a day passes that 
it does not make some of our men ill. They are forbidden to 
drink ^vater on the I'oad, unless it is running, and even in that 
case it is necessary to be very careful, for there are rapid flowing 
rivers which are more or less poisoned by the vegetable matter 
in their beds, and by other plants which, growing on the banks, 
die and fall in, undergoing decomposition, and sowing the germs 
of disease. 

October 20. — A strong wind from the southwest brings a 
little snow by way of ^varning that winter is at hand, and as we 
sit round the fires at night the conversation turns upon the lofty 
j^lateaux. Our interpreter, in his vanity, exaggerates the difficul- 
ties of the route, for, as he is the only person who has gone 
through a winter in these regions, he regards himself as a being 
of some special essence. In the village of Tchigali we halt in 
the hut of the chief. This villag-e received its name fi'om the 
abundance of the tchiga (asclepias), which the natives found 
when they settled there. AVherever we go we encounter this 
plant, as well as the poplar, the tamarisk, and the jujube tree, 
and it gives a special character to the valley of the Tarim. 

October 21. — Before entering the desert, which has to l^e 
crossed to get to Airiligane, we go through regular fields of 
tchiga. Of this the natives weave garments, the work being 
always executed by women. The grains of the " silk plant," as 
the asclepias of Europe is called, are surmounted by a silky 
substance as soft to the touch as the finest velvet. Cushions are 
made of it, and it also makes a very soft bed for children, and 
when the dark and hard pod which contains the grain is pressed, 
these emerge all at once in the shape of a bouquet of great deli- 
cacy, as by a magician's wand. 

October 22. — The event of to-day is the visit of a chief who 
offers us presents, consisting of melons, fish, onions, and carrots. 
The carrots excite general enthusiasm, it being a long time since 
we had seen any of these excellent vegetables. 

October 23. — We are still in the desert, and can see the Tarim 



ARKAN. 67 

flo^viug lazily aloug its banks, all wliite with salt. We kill an 
enormous wild boar and some gazelles. The day is a magnif- 
icent one, after a minimum of 16° of frost at night, whereas 
during the day the temperature rises to 83° in the shade. The 
sky is overcast, and with the aspect of autumn we have the 
warmth of spring. 

October 24. — Once more w^e are on the banks of one of the 
branches of the Tarim, and have no difficulty in constructing 
two rafts, one with a treble row of trunks of trees, the other 
with canoes brought us by the natives, who are more wretched- 
looking than those who live higher up the river, more suspicious, 
and more savage. They are amused and alarmed at a mere 
nothing, and even our camels inspire them with such terror 
that they will not go near them. 

The men of Arkan (this being the name of the place) are 
poor wretches all in i-ags, dressed in pieces of coarse cloth, and 
ii'agments of a wadded coat, having on their feet abascas, boots 
without any heels, or strips of stuff wound round their legs. 
They are of a very marked type, being small, dark, very agile, 
showing little musx'le, ^\dth skinny legs, and the calf high up 
toward the knee. They have broad faces, salient cheek-bones, 
and small round eyes of a dark color, while one is struck by the 
long nose, coming down to a chin ending in a very scanty beard. 
Theii' cheeks are hollowed as if by hunger, and their mouths are 
very large, with the corners puckered down, and with thick over- 
lapping lips. Their necks are long and thin like those of the 
cormorants, which they resemble in the sense that they are 
in search of food from the hour of their birth. Their teeth, 
as a rule, are yellow, decayed, short, and woi'u sideways from 
gnawing at dried meat and munching grain. They are much 
amused at seeing us sneeze when we take some yellow snuff 
which they are constantly thrusting up their nostrils. 

Savage and devoid of intelligence as they look, they have their 
code of honor. The Doungane camel-driver abuses them because 
they have pushed one of the camels into the water by their 



68 ACROSS THIBET. 

awkward movements, so they steer clear of him, heap curses on 
liis head, and intimate their intention of going away. They will 
not do anything for him, and we are compelled to intervene and 
explain that he is only hired by us, and that in reality it is for 
us that they are working. So they set to work again, but only 
on condition that the Doungane keeps away from them. 

It so happens that this morning, by way of punishing them for 
some careless act, Parpa had taken a stick and beaten some of 
them, whereupon, instead of being angry, they had offered ex- 
cuses and had promised to behave better. I asked one of their 
graybeards the meaning of this. 

" Why do you say nothing to Parpa and get angry with the 
Doungane ? " 

" Parpa is a Mussulman, a sunni, like ourselves." 

" But the Doungane is a sunni too." 

" We do not believe it, for he wears a pigtail like a Chinese :, 
he speaks their language, and knows nothing of ours, except 
insults. Whereas Parpa is one of our acquaintances, he speaks 
our language and does not insult our mothers or the tombs of our 
fathers. He beat the men who made such a stupid blunder, and 
he was quite right. He is not a Chiuese with hair falling down 
his back, and, besides, blows are not like the words which pro- 
ceed from an evil heart." 

As a matter of fact, the stick is used for chastisement in these 
Eastern countries, and there is nothing ignominious in the 
injuries which it inflicts. Insults, on the other hand — and I mean 
thereby the curses upon relatives, ancestors, and tombs, uttered 
with the object of dishonoring the person at whom they are 
leveled — are rarely forgiven. 

October 26. — Having got the whole of the caravan across, we 
encamp to-day in a wood at Talkitchin, a name which signifies 
" the small poplar " in the dialect of the country. The scenery 
is much the same, and directly one leaves the banks of the river 
one is in the desert with the tamarisk tree, the tchiga, and tufts- 
of reeds growing in its salt soil. 



BOUOON BAGHI. 69 

As I ^valk tliroiigli tlie wood I observe that if it lias been 
able to resist tlie desert it lias not escaped the effects of time, 
for the leaves have been stripped from the trees earlier than 
they wonld have been if there had been much vigor in them, 
and the branches of the poplars are much twisted and bent. 
The trunks are either split or are devoid of bark, the ground 
is strewed with dead branches, and the roots, laid bare to the 
air, seem to have no hold in the ground. Seen from a distant 
elevation, these trees present the forlorn aspect of an abandoned 
vineyard, and the meager trunks, devoid of a single branch, rear 
their heads like the poles in a hop field which has been allowed 
to go out of cultivation. The effect of all I see around me is to 
depress the imagination, the sand being so slippery that the 
footprints made in it are effaced in a moment ; there is no sign 
of life, and the pale sun goes down in a gray sky which it 
scarcely tinges with gold, while the silence is so complete that 
one can almost hear one's arteries beating. 

The old Kirghiz Imatch indulges in some very comical reflec- 
tions about the camels, of which he is very fond, as, indeed, 
he is of all animals, taking care that the horses and dogs are not 
left without food. His only failing is that he has a very coarse 
tongue, and a boundless store of rich invective. He points out 
to me that the kouirouk (tail) of the sheep is not so thick as in 
the Hi, this being a proof that the pasturage is poor. There 
is nothing better than the fat of the sheep's tail. 

October 27. — After a march through the sand, we encamp a 
little way beyond the ruined forti'ess constructed by Yakoob- 
Beg, and the four walls, still standing, serve as a refuge in bad 
weather. The spot where we encamp is called Bougon-Bachi, 
Bougon being the name given to the stags, which are pretty 
numerous in this country, Avhile " Bachi " means head, the Tarim 
making a sharp bend, which is very like the head of a stag 
surmounted by his two horns. 

October 28. — AVe direct our steps southward, delighted at 
the thought of entering the region of I^ob. As we advance the 



70 ACBOSS THIBET. 

aspect of the country clianges, the vegetation l^ecoming rarer, 
while the trees have disappeared; the shrubs and plants are 
scantier, the hillocks further a].)ai't, and are frequently separated 
by the smooth surface of the takirs. There are traces of evapo- 
ration everywhere. 

We take a south-south-westerly direction, with the wind at 
our backs. Quitting the banks of" the Tarim for good, the desert 
becomes more and more in keeping with its name. All of a 
sudden we can see the glistening of water, a large sheet of which 
extends to our left, forming numerous creeks. Overhead thou- 
sands of birds are flying in clouds, while others allow themselves 
to be carried along the surface of the water by the wind, but at 
a considerable distance from the low banks, which are bare, 
coated with salt, and devoid of the thick belt of reeds which is 
to be found on most lakes. Further on is another sheet of water, 
and when we ascend a hillock we can distinguish an endless chain 
of them, with their sandhills, salt-coated shores, and water- 
fowl. 

One of the guides says this region is the Lob, another that it 
is Kara-Bourane ; but in reality it is called the " Black Tempest," 
to the extreme west of the Lob. 

The stream which runs in a current through this stagnant 
water is the Tcherchene-Darj^-a, which comes down froDi the high 
table-lauds to the north. It is not so broad as the Tarim, and a 
very modest-sized bridge enables us to cross it, and to encamj) 
in the island formed by it, the grass being good for the horses 
and camels. 

The village of Lob is not far off, and the inhabitants come to 
pay us a visit. These starved and feeble-looking people offer us 
for sale smoked fish and duck, which they have snared, and a few 
presents soon make them friendly. They tell us that Petzoff, the 
Russian traveler, is expected shortly, and the Chinese have 
spread the report that smallpox is raging in the region of the 
Tcherchene, so that the inhabitants of Tcharkalik have made up 
their minds to take flio;ht before the Russians arrive. In this 



TGHARKALIK. 



71 



country smallpox terrifies tlie population, causing them to dis- 
perse in all directions, and even to abandon the sick. 

October 29. — After having slowly steered our way through 
the marshes we again see the bare plain in the desert. To the 




A NATIVE OF LOB. 



south we can distinguish a tall peak rising out of the mist, like 
an island in the sky, and the guide, pointing to it with his whip, 
says, " Altin Tagh, the mountain of gold." It is the first of the 



72 ACROSS THIBET. 

mountain walls which bar access to the high table-lands ; and as 
we are looking at it it vanishes like a dream. 

We trot along a nai'row, rough path, hewn, so to speak, out of 
the soil, wherein the feet of men and beasts have worked a series 
of holes some distance apart. The path gets smoother, and at 
last we enter a tamarisk wood, while the poplars are still green 
^nd the air warm as in spiing when we enter the oasis of 
Tcharkalik. Here there is abundance of irrigation, and the fields 
are well cultivated. There are peach and apricot trees, and even 
vines with hedgerows inclosing the fields, and the presence of 
huts and cottages reminds one a little of the gardens outside 
large cities like Marseilles. 

We are very well received by the elders of the village of Tchar- 
kalik, who bring us a profusion of melons, peaches, and grapes, 
and have some cakes of new bread baked for us ; and in our 
delight at having reached the end of our second main stage we 
sacrifice a whole hecatomb of these good things. 



CHAPTER IV. 

AF EXCURSION TO LOB NOR. 

(by PBINCE HBNET of ORLEANS.) 

A Region of Salt — On the Tarim Again — Abdullah : the Place and the Man — Residence 
of tlie Chief — His Family — Wild Camels — Lost in the Darkness — More About Wild 
Camels — Waterfowl — An Exchange — Disappearance of a Lake — Down the Tarim in 
Canoes — Youtchap Khan — Another Native Tj^pe — Kamchup Khan — Straddling a 
River at Its Mouth — At Eutin — Ichtliyophagists — A Native Legend — Probable Causes 
of the Drj'ing up of the Lake — Native Customs — Another Abdullah — Festivities — 
Back to the First Abdullah— Tchai — A Couple of Good Shots — A Moonlight March — 
Tcharkalik Once More. 

We had already been four days at Tcharkalik, and were not 
nearly ready to start, having to engage men of the district in 
place of our Russians who were returning home, to get in pro- 
visions for the winter, to mend clothes, and to make covering for 
protecting the feet from the cold. All this takes time, and as 
Bonvalot had promised to see after this. Father Dedeken and 
myself, who could be of no service at Tcharkalik, availed our- 
selves of the compulsory halt of the caravan to explore the Lob 
Nor, starting on the 3d of November. 

Our horses had already traveled more than 600 miles since we 
left Djarkent, and as we have still to tax their powers a great 
deal, we left them to rest at Tcharkalik. Riding some animals 
which we hired there, thick-set ponies, with deep chests, short 
and heavy necks, and small heads, and that seemed able to stand 
plenty of work, we found it as much as we could do to hold 
them at the start. Abdullah, who takes the attention which 
these stallion ponies bestow on the mare he is riding as meant 
for himself, casts a patronizing look at the natives who have 
come to see us off. He is in his element going to the Lob Nor, 
and thinks that he will be able to do as he likes with us, and 
keep us well away from the villages, while he I'emains there 

73 



74 ACROSS THIBET. 

eatiug, smolving, and flirting witli tlie young ladies of tlie place, 
A smile of self-satisfaction plays over his face as lie abandons 
himself to liis reveries. In front of him Father Dedeken and 
Barachdin, both keen for the chase, are discounting theii' coming 
triumphs, while behind them Couzuinetzoff, bent double, has as 
much as he can do to keep his pony in order, and, when he can 
find a quiet moment, wipes his spectacles, and hopes that we 
shall not kill too many birds foi' him to stuff. 

A little way behind us come half a dozen small donkeys, 
accompanied by two Mussulmans from Tcharkalik, and carrying 
some provisions and our beds, which consist of a piece of felt, 
and a coverlet. Abdullah declares that we shall find very good 
houses, and that it is useless to encumber ourselves with a tent. 
We have also two small barrels of water and a little dry wood. 

When we left the encampment at 9 a. m. the weather was cold, 
but there was no wind or cloud. Still the sky was overcast, 
having that iron-gray tint which I have often noticed on the 
Terai in Nepaul, and which is caused by a mist intercepting a 
portion of the light. 

M. Bonvalot came a little way with us through the oasis of 
Tcharkalik, as far as the limit of the desert. The arrangement 
was that if we found the shooting in the Lob Nor anything out 
of the common we were to let him know and he would Join us. 
If not, we were to rejoin him in about a week. 

As far as a small hillock where we took tea when coming 
from Lob, the road is the one over which we have already 
traveled, and we then turn to the right, that is, to the northeast. 
All day we go through the desert, mth nothing but sand in 
view, in some places level and smooth as a carpet, in others 
wrinkled and raised into ridges which are close together like so 
many petrified waves. Sometimes, too, we notice small cavities 
in the soil, which are half full of saline crystallizations. These 
are geodes forming under our very eyes, and it is probably to all 
this salt that are due the mii'ages which are constantly tantalizing 
us in this arid region, where the passage of the caravans has 



EMIGBANTS FROM THE LOB NOR. 75 

traced a rough sort of road whicli has been hardened by the 
drought, and which winds along in the distance like a furrow 
traced by the hand of man. One might imagine one's self to be 
transported into the scenery of the moou, and we really begin to 
forget where we are. Our march soon becomes horribly monot- 
onous, and we cease singing and even talking, the solitude being 
quite contagious, and the general silence is only broken by the 
footfall of the horses when they are crossing dried-up ponds and 
theii' hoofs break through the crust. We are only aroused from 
our reveries by meeting with a caravan, and when we shake off 
our torpor we have the same feeling of returning to the reality 
which is experienced by the sleeper who wakes up with a 
start. 

From time to time we pass emigrants from the Lob Nor who 
are going to spend the winter at Tcharkalik, with their luggage, 
their dwellings, and their furniture loaded on the backs of a few 
donkeys, and of their wives. In the midst of one of these con- 
voys I am particularly struck by one family. The woman has a 
piece of felt on her back, with a gun slung across her shoulders, 
and she is driving the donkey along mth a stick, while the hus- 
band follows quietly nursing a child in his arms. He does not 
seem to be the least astonished at meeting us, and continues his 
journey without even looking round; he would not be a Avhit 
more surprised if death were to overtake him, for he is a Mussul- 
man and knows that " it is written." 

Despite the sameness of the route, time passes quickly, and 
we have to think about encamping. We calculate that we 
have come about twenty-five miles, and though we are still in the 
midst of the desert our guides are not in the least at a loss to 
fasten up our horses, after having unloaded them. They make 
small holes in the ground and put the halters into them, then 
filling these holes up with sand and treading them down. This 
mode of fastening horses offers much more resistance than one 
might be inclined to think. Having spread out our pieces of 
felt, we light the dry wood we have brought with us, and our 



76 ACEOSS THIBET. 

frugal meal of caverdak,* washed down with tea, is soon over. 
It is not long before we roll ourselves up in our rugs, and with 
the desert for a mattress, the sky for a ceiling, and the moon foi' 
a night-light, we ask for nothing better, especially as we are very 
sleepy. 

November 4. — We are awoke at break of day by a deep mur- 
mur over our heads. It is a I'hythmical sound, similar to that pro- 
duced by the paddles of a steamer as they strike the water, and 
it is produced b}^ flocks of birds which are flying southward. 
The season is advancing, and it is time for them to get away 
from the cold. 

And very cold it is, the thermometer marking only five degrees 
above zero, and, being anxious to start so as to re-establish our 
circulation, we do not lose much time in folding up our beds, 
preparing our tea, and loading our donkeys. Some wild geese 
that had got left behind are standing in long rows upon the sand, 
and seen from the distance they look gigantic, and give the idea 
of troops drawn up in battle array. We, no doubt, present a still 
more formidable appearance to them, for as soon as they catch 
sight of us they utter the most discordant cries and fly away, 
forming in the air immense triangles with the apex in front. 

The sun bursts out at last, and though rather behind time he 
makes up for this by presenting a quite unlooked-for spectacle. 
The ground is covered with the seeds of reed grass carried hither 
by the wind, and this seed, white and silky, sparkles like an infin- 
ity of small stars in the horizontal rays. It seems as if the desert 
was ashamed of its horrible nudity, and that, in order to con- 
ceal it from our sight, it had borrowed from the star of day its 
rarest jewels and its most dazzling stones. Besides the brilliant 
diamonds, large round sapphires of a deep and splendid blue are 
represented by small circular pools, which owe their somber tints 
to the saltness of the water. These pools of water indicate the 
vicinity of a river, and it is not long before we regain the course 
of the Tarim, which is fifty feet broad, with a limpid but shal- 

* Caverdak is meat cut up into very small pieces and fried in the pan. 



VILLAGE OF ABDULLAH. 77 

low current, flowing slowly between two sandy banks, which are 
covered in places with reeds. 

Its course will guide us in future along our route, for we follow 
it pretty closely, putting to flight now and again herds of gazelles 
which have come to drink of its waters, but they are very wild, 
and we do not succeed in bringing any down. 

But the sun is rapidly sinking beneath the horizon, and we 
see no trace of dwellings. The thirty versts, which, as the guide 
told us this morning, separated us from the village of Abdullah, 
seem to us very long ones ; we have covered, indeed, quite double 
the distance, and it is night when we reach four or five wretched 
reed hovels. Can this be the village of Abdullah ? Where are 
the houses built of stone, or, at all events, of earth, which he told 
us about ? Where, too, are the trees, the wood of which was to 
have given us warmth ? and why should he have dissuaded us 
from bringing our tents ? 

These are questions which we should have liked to put to 
Abdullah, but it is cold and late, and all that we can do is to 
content ourseh^es with what we have got, and settle ourselves 
as comfortably as possible, taking care to be on our guard in 
future against the information supplied by our interpreter. 
While our people are unloading the horses and donkeys, 
the natives emerge from their miserable hovels, and with 
many "salaams" and "alcons" beg us to accept their hospi- 
tality. 

We enter one of these huts, the earthen floor of which is 
covered in places with old bits of felt, while in the center a 
cavity surrounded by flat stones serves as a fireplace. In the 
corner are sacks of corn and an old cartridge box, the latter be- 
ing a souvenir of Prjevalsky's visit. This is all the furniture, 
and on the walls, constructed of reeds, are hung long guns with 
powder flasks, so the inmates are evidently given to shooting. 
The ceiling is made out of the branches of trees brought from 
Tcharkalik, the interstices being filled up with osiers, and a 
space is often left over the hearth to let the smoke escape. Bits 



78 ACROSS THIBET. 

of cloth are stretclied from oue beam to another to prevent the 
droppings from the swallows' nests from f alimg on to the ground. 
These birds are held in great respect. 

This is the residence of a chief, and having inspected the 
house I proceed to examine the ligm'es of om' hosts, lighted up 
by the tire made of the reeds and dry brushwood. In the fore- 
ground, close to the hearth, crouches a little old man, very bent 
and ^^^'inkled. He resembles some of the Tarantchis that we 
sa\v at Kourla. With a more or less automatic motion of his 
lower jaw, he raises his white beard to the level of his hooked 
nose, this movement being all the easier because he has no teeth. 
This is Abdu Keremata, who might be any age between 95 and 
105, and as he is the chief of the family, the haha, he is, as such, 
held in great respect. 

Around him are his sous, the youngest of whom is at least 
forty. They are all devoted to the chase — tall men, clad in 
sheepskins tied round the waist with a belt, with a fm' cap on 
their head, and wearing sandals made of the skin of donkeys or 
mid camels. Their featm'es show that they ai'e not of pure 
blood, the forehead being narrow and the eyes more or less 
elongated, but not raised at the corners, as is the case with the 
yellow race. As a rule, they scarcely open their eyelids ; the 
nose is large, and, usually, rather hooked, the lips thick and in- 
clined to turn up, and the hau' coarse and scanty. Such are 
their general characteristics, to which I may add one peculiarity 
which I noticed everywhere in the Lob Nor. The people get 
T\Tinkled from their early youth, and their faces show signs of 
this all over — on the forehead, I'ound the eyes, under the cheeks, 
and at the corners of the mouth — this producing an air of pre- 
mature age and of grimacing which makes men, Avho are, taking 
them altogether, rather handsome, appear very ugly. The 
family of Abdu Keremata invite us to come round the fire ; they 
pour us out tea and bring us the best bits of mutton — that is, 
the breast and the loin. Om* hosts keep complete silence, only 
a word here and there being exchanged iu an undertone while 



RESIDENCE OF A CHIEF. 



79 



we are eatino^. In the next room Avonien are rocMns: cradles to 
a tune wliieli produces the dull sound of a pestle being worked 
in a mortal', while at a respectful distance from the hearth 
cliildren nearly naked look from us to their fathers, and keep 
quite silent out of timidity. 

'' AUah-Akbar ! " exclaims Abdullah, passing his hands through 
his beard, while the guests express their satisfaction by some 






Hi 1 



V- 







YILLAGK OF AliDULl.AII. 



incongruous sounds. The meal being finished, it is time to talk, 
and there is a piece of good news for us, for some animals have 
just been eaten by a tiger, so perhaps we may have a chance 
of tracking him. 

With regard to the wild camels, our hosts have killed four in 
the last two years, but they have cut up their skins. In telling 
us this, they guess that we should want them ^vhole, with the 
head and the feet. The only Europeans who have come here 
before wanted them like this, so they suppose that '' the people 



80 ACROSS THIBET. 

of the West attacli great importance to these skins ; perhaps 
they extract valuable remedies from them." 

Whatever may be their object, travelers never come to the 
Lob Nor without inquiring about the wild camels. One of the 
men present provided Prjevalsky with some. The tariff has 
always been sixty rubles and an article of European manu- 
facture for a complete skin. But we spoil the market at the 
risk of incurring the displeasure of those who come after us. 
We are pressed for time, the wild camels are only to be found 
some way to the east, and a fortnight is soon gone ; so we 
promise seventy rubles for each skin, and promise the men a 
gratuity even if they do not kill any. Abdullah goes bail for 
us, and in doing so incurs little risk, as he does not intend to 
return to the Lob Nor sooner than he can help. 

Novemher 5. — AVe are in the saddle before sunrise, following 
for another four miles the Tarim, ^vhich runs between high 
banks, and halting again at a fresh village with five or six reed 
huts similar to the one we have just left. This, again, is an 
Abdullah, and all that it has more than the first is a pole, to 
which we fasten our horses, on the "public square." Hospi- 
tality is offered us by a native about forty years old, with a 
straight, big nose, thick but not protruding lips, and a very 
wrinkled skin. He has a very genial face, and breathes an air 
of jollity Avhich is quite communicative. This is Kunchi Kan 
Bey, whose portrait has already been drawn by Prjevalsky, who 
was his guest for more than a month. Like Abdu Keremata, 
he is the head of a family of hunters, and he promises to do 
what he can to procure us the skin of a wild camel ; and when 
he hears our proposals he induces five of his men to get ready 
for a start into the desert. Other natives are longing to get oil 
to the track of the tiger referred to above. 

While Abdullah was interpreting our promises, garnished with 
some of his o^vu inventions. Father Dedeken went up to two 
Mongolian yourtes (tents), close to which five camels were 
picketed. These tents were inhabited by five very dirty lamas. 



LOST IN THE DARKNESS. 81 

wlio Avere preceding the Khan of tlie Kalmucks on his return 
from Lhassa. As we know that they have just traversed the 
highlands of Thibet, upon which we are about to enter, they 
may perhaps be able to give us some useful information. Father 
Dedeken accordingly calls out to them in Chinese, " Amour sen. 
Amour sen bene."^' Come and take tea with us." They under- 
stand perfectly what is said to them, and accept the invitation 
with pleasure. The pleasure, however, is scarcely reciprocal, for 
they smell atrociously. Nor do they seem to understand this, as, 
the more I sheer off from them, the closer they come up to me. 
AVe feel that it will not do to be too particular, but we are 
poorly rewarded for our courage, as, while they drink our tea 
very readily, they Avill not tell us anything worth knowing, doing 
all they can do to deter us from going on. 

The rest of the day is employed in shooting in the vicinity. 
The waterfowl are pretty numerous, and they keep to small 
pools, which, as a rule, are circular, and are surrounded by a belt 
of reeds fifteen or twenty feet high, forming a regular forest ; the 
ground is marshy, covered in some places with rushes, which 
make the walking very bad. When one has got through these 
on to the bank, it is easy to have a double shot, but the birds all 
get up, and it is necessary to walk round the pond and go to the 
other side, or else pass on to the next. This is very fatiguing work,, 
and so we soon return, after having seen a great deal of game 
but no great variety of species. This is not the time of year 
when there is a great passage of birds, and, as we have not 
enough cartridges to amuse ourselves by making a big bag, we 
must only kill what we require for our collections or for food. 

On returning to Abdullah, I utilized the few remaining hours 
of daylight to get on my pony and ride back over yesterday'^ 
route, in the hope of seeing some more gazelles. I did not see a 
single one, but I was so absorbed in looking about for them that 
I let nio:ht overtake me. In these re2:ions it comes all of a sud- 
den, \vithout any twilight. AVith a carelessness without excuse 

* " Good health," in Mongolian. 



82 ACROSS THIBET. 

in such a case, I had forgotten my compass. Only one resource 
was left to me. and that answered. I let the reins drop on my 
horse's neck, and he, after sniffing for a moment, set off without 
hesitation at a slow trot, and took me straight to th(3 village, which 
I could not distinguish until I was within a hundred yards of it. 
This noctiu'nal ride gave me an appetite, and I did justice to 
the meal which Kunchi Kan Bey and his sons shared with us, 
for our host had offered us a sheep, a Tcharkalik melon, and ten 
small sandwiches similar to those made in Russia, and called 
pirochki. The secret of making them was taught his wife hj a 
Russian Cossack, and, whatever may have been the motive which 
actuated him, we bless this unknown philanthropist and quaif a 
cup of tea to his health. During our dinner, a woman prepares 
in the same room a dish of Chinese macaroni. She is not good- 
looking, being of the same type as the men, but her headdress 
gives her a more ci^dlized air, while, after the fashion of the 
Russian peasants, she covers ^vith nJicJnt, tied under the chin, her 
coarse, black hair. One mio-ht imao^ine that she was conscious of 
her ugliness, for she talked very little and did not take her food 
at the same time as the men, who have not the slightest notion of 
gallantry. The children are prettiei' than theii' mother, not being- 
yet ^viinkled, and there are some tine types among them ; they 
are all nearly naked, and seem to be in excellent health. After 
they have had a good look at us, they withdraw into an adjoining 
room, followed by the women, who leave us alone mth their 
husbands. The latter, having made a hearty meal, are in a good 
humor and ready to reply to the questions we put to them con- 
cerning their mode of life, theii* habits, and their pursuit of game. 
Wild camel, we are told, begin to be found six days to the north 
of Abdullah. In the summer they go up into the mountains, 
but they always return to the same spots, there being certain 
cantonments to which they are accustomed. They go about in 
troops, one male to fifteen or sixteen females, but it is only after 
terrific combats that the former becomes the undisputed lord of 
his harem. The females have two young in three years, and the 




WOMEN OF ABDULLAH AND NATIVES OF THE LOB NOE. 



WILD CAMELS. 85 

male protects tliem until they ai'e old enough to do without their 
mother's milk. It is very fatiguing and difficult to get near 
them, the only way for the hunter being to hide near the pond on 
the brink of which he has found their traces. He must be a very 
good shot, for having only a single-barreled gun he cannot get 
a second shot, and if the camel is only wounded it will make off 
with its companions and he will never get near it again. The 
best season for this sport is the winter, for the water is nearly 
everywhere frozen over, so that the places where the camels 
come to drink are very few, and you are pretty sure of finding them. 

As to whether these camels have always been wild or are 
descended from domesticated ones, our hosts assured us that they 
had always been wild. " Our forefathers and tradition," they 
said, "represent them as being so. Moreover, a domesticated 
camel cannot do without man, but comes after him. Every do- 
mestic animal has a wild antecedent, but only in some secluded 
spot. The camel must have one like other animals.* 

" When the chase has been successful it is very profitable, as 
the camel's skin is in great demand for boots, while the hair of 
the younger animals is fine and silky, that of the older camels 
being close, and making very good cloth. But only rich people 
like Kunchi Khan can organize these expeditions, as it is neces- 
sary to send several men on in advance, forward provisions, 
furnish animals for transporting them which sometimes die, and 
altogether considerable risk has to be incurred." 

It is much easier and less dangerous to capture the waterfowl. 
Snares are set among the reeds, and during the season a single 
native in the course of a single night will take as many as fifteen 

* The reader is probably aware that the wild camel is spoken of as far back as the 
fifteenth century in the deserts of Central Asia, and that the fact of its existence has 
been confirmed in the last fifty years, but has also been definitely proved since Prjevalsky 
brought back some skins of that animal, which is rather smaller than the domesticated 
kind, with thinner limbs and no callosities at the knees. These characteristics are not 
distinctive. The question as to whether the wild camel is the parent stock of the do- 
mesticated one, or whether, upon the contrary, he descends from some tame camel, as 
has happened in Spain, and more recently in Guyana, is not yet settled, nor is it likely to 
be yet a while. 



86 ACROSS THIBET. 

diicks."'^" The swans are more profitable than the ducks, coverlets 
and even clothing being made with their down. They are taken 
with snares, while in the winter they are decoyed by means of 
fish. 

The chase and fishing form the staple industry of the inhabi- 
tants of Abdullah. They use nets similar to seines, and when 
the fish have been caught they are split in two, cleaned out, and 
then dried for use in winter. There are three varieties of fish, 
the most abundant of which has a thin and yellow skin like 
that of the tench, with a round mouth set olf by appendages 
on each side. They are rarely more than twenty- two inches 
long. 

The natives of Abdallah also eke out their livelihood by the 
rearing of stock, which they possess in large numbers. They do 
not till the ground, but they own some fields at Tcharkalik, 
which workmen cultivate for them, and they pay them in kind 
with a part of the crop and a few sheep. Altogether, the people 
of Abdullah are regarded as rich, and they are under the imme- 
diate protection of the Chinese — ^that is to say, the authorities of 
Turfan, to which they are attached, levy on them a tax which is 
equivalent to one ruble per horse, fort)^ copecks per cow or ox, 
two rubles per hundred sheep, and nine skins of seals for the 
headdress of the mandarins. In return for this, the Celestial 
Empire declares them to be its well-beloved children. But 
although they are Chinese subjects they have not the character- 
istics of their masters, being less proud and more simple than the 
sons of Heaven. Before quitting us for the night, they show 

* The swallows arrive at Abdullah in April, and leave again in September. A 
species of red duck, called here Turfan (in Chinese, Ghoumi cMzen, red beak), arrives in 
large numbers in February, and leaves in July. The geese arrive from the 20th to 28th 
February, remaining till the middle of March, and then going to Siberia. They return 
from September to October, remaining a month, and then going southward. The swans 
arrive from the south at the end of July, remain throughout September, and then return 
south. They do not nest at the Lob Nor, because of the mosquitoes, according to the 
natives. The other ducks arrive toward the end of January, some remaining only ten 
days, but those which stay longer build their nests, like the puffins, the gulls, the herons, 
and other birds sedentary in the Lob Nor. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF A LAKE. 87 

US in a very amusing way how preferable common sense is 
to conceited knowledge. In tMs instance common sense is 
represented by Kunchi Khan Bey, and instruction by Abdullah^ 
who is a savant by comparison, as he can speak four languages, 
and has a gTeat opinion of himseli The former shows a stereo- 
scope and a musical box which Prjevalsky gave him. Abdullah 
thinks that if he were to send these tw^o articles back by the 
Russians to his family at Djarkent, he ^vould dazzle his com- 
patriots, and appear a great man in their eyes, while Kunchi 
Khan Bey says to himseK that if he had Abdullah's wadded 
coverlet he should be very warm in the winter. The exchano-e 
is accordinoflv made, each thinking that he has o-ot the best of 
the barofain. I know which of the t^vo reallv has, and I shall 
ask our "intelligent" interpreter, later on, if he thinks that 
Kunchi Khan Bey is nice and warm. 

JS'ovemher 6. — We are anxious to o:et awav to the Lob- ISot and 
see the immense lake, the beginning of Tvhich we noticed near the 
village of Lob, and the surface of which, according to Abdullah^ 
is dark with myriads of waterfowl. 

'■ But," say the natives, " you are at the Lob jSTor." 

" What do vou mean I Where then is the great lake ? " 

" There is no great lake." 

'*• Then what becomes of the Tarim I '' 

" It gradually dwindles away, and finally disappears." 

" But Prjevalsky saw a lake which he compai'ed to a small 
sea." 

" No doubt, but since the Russian general came here thii-teen 
years ago the water has run oft^, and the largest liquid surface is 
that which you saw near Lob. Besides, there are no longer imy- 
thing but small pools." 

"' Thank you. We are quite ready to believe you, but we 
should like to see for om-selves what the state of things is, and we 
propose to go down the Tarim a little way." 

In order to cai'ry out this project, all we have to do is to em- 
baik, ^vith our beds and a few provisions, on two large c^moes 



88 ACROSS THIBET. 

hewn out of the trunk of a tree. These canoes are about twenty 
feet by three, and they hold four men, including two natives, one 
in the bow and the other in the stern, who use their paddles 
much after the fashion of the Venetian gondoliers. These boats 
are light and not very steady, so the wary Abdullah suggests that 
we should follow the example of Prjevalsky, and tie them to- 
gether, but we did not follow his advice, time being short. The 
weather is fine, we have a light westerly breeze in the poop, and 
so we make rapid headway down stream, upon both banks of 
which are low hillocks of sand, with a few stunted tamarisk trees 
growing on them. The Tarim is from twenty-two to twenty-five 
feet broad, dividing at places into two branches and forming an 
eyot, upon one of which we halt for a little, and are overtaken 
by boats that have come from Lob loaded with provisions for 
the winter. 

A few miles further on we come to Youtchap Khan, as four or 
five reed huts erected under a sandy hillock are called, the village 
having a small canal which was cut about fifteen years ago to let 
oft* the overflow of water. 

At Youtchap Khan we make a fresh halt, to oblige Abdullah, 
who is not very fond of this sort of navigation, and the whole 
population comes out to have a look at us. The men are like 
those at Abdullah, but the women are even uglier, having snub 
noses, prominent cheek-bones, eyes almost on the level with the 
face, and large mouths some distance from the extremity of the 
nose, being altogether very much of the Mongolian type. Men 
and women receive us in very friendly fashion, and allow us to 
inspect their dwellings, and to photograph their implements, 
which are simple and few in number. The guns are the same 
as those we have seen before, with a single barrel, which is long, 
and has an iron prong attached to it. Spending most of their 
time in the chase, they breed a few sheep like the people at 
Abdullah, and make use of their wool, which they comb out by 
stretching it upon a rope fastened to a wooden handle, and mak- 
ing the rope vibrate by means of a sort of mallet. When they 



KAMGHAP KHAK 89 

liave got the wool to the required degree of fineness they roll it 
on to a spinning-wheel, formed by two parallel indentated wheels, 
the points of which are fastened together with pieces of string. 
Besides wool, they use for their clothing the bark of a variety of 
wild hemp (tcliiga)^ which they root up with a hoe made of a 
triangular piece of iron, with a cane as the stick. They cut 
their wood with a primitive sort of hatchet, which consists of a 
fragment of iron fixed on to the extremity of a piece of bent 
wood. The corn is ground between two flat stones, each fastened 
in the middle to a piece of wood. They use pumpkins instead 
of gourds, while the skins of antelopes, with the hair taken oft*, 
dried and scraped, are cut into long strips for making fishing- 
nets. Adding to these few articles of prime necessity a horse's 
tail for driving away the flies, and a reed mat which answers the 
purpose of a napkin, an exact idea may be formed of what is to 
be found in their dwellings. 

Keturning to our boats, we continue the descent of the Tarim, 
the sandbanks of which continue as far as Kamchap Khan (" Dug 
out from the Sand "), which is another collection of reed hovels. 
The inhabitants seem even more woebegone than the people 
already described, with nothing but a few pieces of ragged felt to 
barely cover them, while their enormous sheepskin caps, the wool 
of which is mixed up with their unkempt hair, make their phys- 
iognomy seem all the more savage. Yet, beneath this repulsive 
exterior, ^ve find them very amiable and friendly. They are nine 
families in all, with about sixty members, and we cannot refuse 
their invitation to stay a few minutes and take a cup of tea. The 
sides of the house we enter are covered with white patches pro- 
duced by the damp, and as the interior is dirty we are not sorry 
to be off. 

The Tarim divides into two arms beyond Kamchap Khan, 
the greater part of the waters flowing to the left and forming 
a large marsh, with islets of sand rising above the surface here 
and there. At the rear of the village is a lake about 330 feet 
long, but not more than a foot or two deep, while beyond that 



90 ACROSS THIBET. 

are peat-bogs, salt-ponds, aud strips of ground covered by a few 
stunted gorse-bushes and reed-beds. At Kamchap Klian the 
sand banks come to an end, and tlie riglit arm of the Tarim, 
wliicli continues to flow eastward, is only from seven to sixteen 
feet broad, its banks being scarcely visible, while the immense 
reeds which grow along them have their roots in the water. The 
stream, already so much shrunken, is still further diminished 
by the number of small furrows cut on the right bank by the 
natives to guard against certain inundations. The river bends 
very much, and we have a difficulty in getting round some of the 
bends, owing to the length of our canoes, but our boatmen have 
made up their minds to the inevitable, and they accompany the 
motion of their oars with a rhythmical song, ending with a sort 
of sigh which we all repeat in chorus. Soon we are navigating 
a stream about five feet wide ; and, at the risk of wetting my feet, 
I cannot resist the temptation of standing astride one of the 
largest rivers of Central Asia at its mouth, and seeing it flow 
between my legs. In front, behind, on each side and above us, 
are nothing but bulrushes, with patches of sky on which stars are 
beginning to appeal', for night is drawing on, and our men 
advance but slowly, while our stomachs remind us that it is high 
time to find a place of rest. 

All of a sudden, as if by enchantment, at the bend of the 
stream we come upon a little creek to the left, a clear space amid 
the rushes, a mead coming down to the bank, and on the bank a 
man ! I do not know whether he or our party are the more sur- 
prised. 

On jumping ashore, my first impulse is to give him a cordial 
shake of the hand, as a man represents to my mind inhabitants, 
a village, fire, and dinner. But I cannot help being angry with 
our boatmen for having deceived us by saying that there was no 
village beyond Kamchap Khan. 

I tell Abdullah to ask where we are. 

" At Eutin." 

" Did the boatmen know of this villaa'e ? " 



ICHTHT0PHAOIST8. 93 

" Yes, tliey belong to it." 

'^ Why did tliey not tell us of it ? " 

" Tliey were afraid that we should steal their mves." 

"Reassure them, and say that we only ask them to give us 
shelter, and that we do not mean them any harm." 

Our men do as they are bid, and take us to the hamlet, the 
name of which means "a place that has been burnt," for the 
houses are built upon a small clearing made by a fire in the 
midst of the reeds. There is a population of about fifty. Our 
boatmen had been away for several days, so their aged fathers 
greet them by kissing them on both cheeks ; while they, in their 
turn, embrace their sons. We ingratiate ourselves with all the 
inhabitants by buying one of the two village sheep which had 
been fattened for the marriage of the chief's son, and as soon as 
the animal has been killed and cut up it is cooked, we sharing 
the meal with our hosts. This is a great treat for them, as they 
rarely taste meat more than once a year; and, in addition to 
being too poor to afford it, they say that it would be bad for 
them to eat it frequently. Perhaps this is another case of 
"grapes being sour," but, in any case, it is certain that, like 
cei'tain peoples of Arabia, they are ichthyophagists, though they 
eat duck as well as fish. In their view, as in that of the medi- 
aeval monks, the flesh of ducks is not meat ; though the motive 
for holding this view may not be the same. They also eat the 
young sprouts of the reeds, and the roots of the wild hemp, 
which they fry. I am delighted at their friendly feeling, and 
take advantage of their loquacity and of Abdullah's good- 
humor to pursue the investigation which I had begun at Ab- 
dullah. A¥e shall probably not go any farther on the Lob Nor, 
or ever return there, so it would be a pity to lose the oppor- 
tunity of getting information ^vith regard to regions of which so 
little is known. 

Here, as in the other villages, we are seated in a circle round 
the hearth, the fire being made of bundles of dried reeds. The 
ends are lighted first, an<l the flame gradually consumes the 



94 ACROSS THIBET. 

stalks, a little girl piisliiug tlie bundle further in as it burns. 
The flame is very vivid ; so as we get a better light than we should 
from a lamp, and are well warmed into the bargain, we have 
nothing to complain of. 

The bulk of our conversation is with an old woman, whose 
skin is so Avrinkled that it is scarcely possible to distinguish her 
toothless mouth between her nose and her chin. According to 
the custom of the country, her head is covered with a fichu ; her 
hands are mere skin and bones, and on one of her fingers is a 
ring with a small blue stone — a colored pebble, which has prob- 
ably been palmed off upon her by a Chinaman. From the 
frontiers of Siberia to Tonquin, and even beyond, it is safe to 
say : " Wherever there is a robbery, a Chinaman is in it." The 
old lady appears to be held in high esteem in her village, this 
being due to her age and to her musical talents ; for whenever 
the conversation flags she takes up a two-stringed guitar and 
sino;s Ions: leo-ends to a monotonous, but soft and harmonious 
tune, relating the history of her ancestors, their origin, their 
struggles, their flight, and their return. She sings in a nasal, 
deliberate tone, in a Turkish dialect which Abdullah has a dif- 
ficulty in following. But one of our boatmen, who knows the 
Tcharkalik language, assists him, and, with the help of Father 
Dedeken and his Chinese, I succeed in noting down a good part 
of the legend, as follows : 

^^ Once upon a time four kings ruled the countr}^, which was 
very prosperous Avith its Mussulman inhabitants. These kings 
were : Attagout Agha [Agha is a title], residing at Kargalik ;* 
Nouniaz Agha, Mardjan Agha, both of whom resided at Gashar,f 
and Cher Agha, at Miencharl, near Abdullah.;]; Then came the 
Mongolians, who entered upon a struggle with them. They 
massacred a portion of the male inhabitants, and as the others 
did not choose to remain as slaves they fled, with some of the 

* Kargalik, now Tcharkalik. 

f Three days' march from Tcharkalik, on the route to Khotan. 

X These residences were towns, the ruins of which are still visible in the desert. 



A NATIVE LEGEND. 95 

women, and succeeded in escaping east^va^d three days' niarcli 
from Eutin.* 

" There was still water there then, though now there is only 
saltpeter, but as the fugitives had no house they dug down into 
the ground to make fire, whence the name of the place, Kara- 
houtchoun (black chimneys). There they began to feed only on 
fish and ducks. 

" They remained more than a century, but in the meanwhile 
the Mongolians had gone away, after having destroyed every- 
thing, and the exiles, diiven from their new colony by the 
drought, gradually returned to the west. 

'' Some went along the banks of the Tarim, between Kourla 
and Lob. Others proceeded as far as the former site of Kar- 
galik, the name of which they had forgotten. Seeing ruins, they 
re-excavated them in search of treasure, but the Mongolians had 
carried off everything, and the exiles found nothing but a spin- 
ning wheel. So they gave the name of Tcharkal, which means 
spinning-wheel, to the town which they built. 

" The chase and the rearing of stock sufficed for their needs 
until the arrival of^an aged chief from Khotan, Ismail Ata,f who 
offered to teach them tillage. His oJft'er being accepted, he 
brought several com]3anions with him. And now differences 
arose between the former owners of the soil and the Khotanese ; 
and the latter have many sons, who take in marriage the daugh- 
ters of the former. But our race has always remained intact, 
and has not been subjected to any mixture of blood." % 

She then abandons the domain of history for that of romance, 
and her improvisations, which seem to captivate the attention of 
her hearers, have less interest for us. I prefer learning all I can 
about the Lob Nor, and question those next to me. 

I am told that it Avas also by exiles on their return from 

* Some went as far as the Tsaidam, where Prjevalsky discovered their tombs. 

f We passed a night under his roof. 

X She forgets that a good many of the people who came from Karahoutchoun took 
back their wives, althougli they liad borne children or were heavy with child to the 
Mongolians, their masters. 



96 ACE0S8 THIBET. 

Karahoutchouu tliat the little villages along tlie banks of tlie 
Tarim in the Lob Nor were founded. Ata (the aged father) was 
born at Karahoutchonn sixty-eight years ago, and thirty-five 
years ago founded the hamlet of Eutin. Beyond Eutin, going in 
the direction of Karahoutchonn, there are two villages : Kara- 
kayuk and Deutchne, the latter being already uninhabited, for 
the water has rnn off, the reeds have disappeared, and their 
places are taken by sand and salt. Karakayuk will soon be 
abandoned, as its two last inhabitants are collecting their 
Avretched belongings before leaving, and the people of Eutin are 
on the point of migrating westward. 

The fishermen are taking refuge in the oasis of Tcharkalik, 
and are becoming tillers of the soil. The inhabitants of the 
Lob !N or, like the waters of the Tarim, are gradually withdrawing ; 
the hovels are falling in, the hamlets are disappearing, and their 
very sites are invaded by giant reeds, which, in turn, no longer 
having the water needed to nourish them, are drying up and 
withering away. Then will begin the slow but certain work of 
the sand, which will come and cover the ruins of ancient cities, 
the remnants of villages, the houses whether of mud or of wood, 
the withered rushes, and the dead reeds, spreading over all this 
district a vast pall which it will be impossible to raise, for the 
sand will have buried what is now the Lob Nor in everlasting 
oblivion. 

This has already partly done its w^ork, for the Lob Nor, as we 
see it, is not as it was in Prjevalsky's time, and the Russian 
general himself could not find the lake"^ which is marked upon 
the old Chinese maps, and the existence of which is confirmed 
by the old woman we are talking with. According to the tradi- 
tion handed down from generation to generation, there was at 
one time here a vast inland sea, mthout any sedges or reeds. 

""It is this great lake wliicli, according to tlie tradition, has given the Lob Nor its 
name — Lob being a local word signifying wild animals. It was already given to the 
district when the Kalmuck caravans traversed it, and they added the Mongolian word 
Nor (great lake). 



NATIVE CUSTOMS, 97 

The old men of tlie tribe themselves had seen large lakes, though 
nothing to compare with the sea which they had heard spoken 
of. One of them says that the water recedes every day, and 
that it must be absorbed by the saltpeter. To this reason, which 
may be to some extent valid, I will add another — for the last ten 
years Chinese Turkestan, which Avas formerly the theater of con- 
stant civil wars, seems to have been pacified, at all events for a 
time, and the inhabitants take advantage of this truce to devote 
themselves to the cultivation of the fields, which they had been 
compelled for some time to abandon. In order to irrigate theii* 
fields they have diverted part of the waters of the Tarim, which 
are thus lost in irrigations or artificial inundations ; while crops 
like cotton or rice, which require a great deal of moisture, are 
becoming more extensive each year, and consequently the body 
of water brought into the Lob Nor distiict is very considerably 
less. 

In reply to our questions as to w^hether they enjoy good 
health, and to what complaints they are subject, they reply that 
theii' mode of life is a healthy one, and that epidemics are rare. 
They do not know what it is to have smallpox, and are never 
subject to the ulcers which are so frequent in the East. When 
they reach a certain age they generally live to be old; but 
among young childi-en the mortality is at the rate of one in five. 
They tell us that the children have no malady, but " they will 
not keep alive," and this is the best explanation we can get. 
The complaints fi'om which adults suffer come chiefly from the 
damp — either a chill, or rheumatism in the legs, which some- 
times partially paralyzes old people; or else a disease of the 
bones. This is often the consequence of rheumatism, and the old 
dame tells us that when this disease of the bones attacks a woman 
who is with child she is sure to die. 

When a marriage takes place the father of the bridegroom 
gives the fathei' of the bride ten bundles of wild hemp, ten packets 
of dried fish, ten cups of fish oil, a stewpan, twenty oi' thirty 
loaves of bread, from fifty to a hundred ducks, a flint and steely 



98 



ACEOSS THIBET. 



and a boat. This is tlie ordinary tariff, tlie rich giving a few 
additional fish or ducks. The eatables are, moreover, consumed 
at the wedding feast. The reader will gather from this list of 
presents that the principal occupation is shooting and fishing. 

They can neither read nor write, and the traditions of the 
country are handed down by word of mouth from one generation 
to another. Some of these traditions comprise lofty ideas ; for 




THE LATTER END OF THE TARIM. 



these people, though very poverty-stricken, are not savages. They 
are religious, and declare themselves prond of being Mohammedans 
— this constituting one of the reasons for their contempt of the 
Chinese and Mongolians, whom they describe as people having 
" no books." Their religious practices consist in listening to a few 
verses of the Koran recited by one of the elders of the tribe ; but 
their ceremonies are simple, being limited to burials. When a 
man dies, his hands and feet are tied, and if his family has any 
cloth a new garment is made for him ; but if not he is dressed 
in an old one. An elder recites a few Mussulman prayers, and 
the corpse is then placed on a stretcher made of reeds and osiers. 
It is covered with rushes, and placed in the midst of the reeds, 



NATIVE BURIALS. 99 

and his relatives cut more reeds and heap them on the dead 
bod}^ ; a pole bearing a bit of paper at the end is fixed in the 
ground, and so the ceremony ends. 

All along the lower course of the Tarim the mode of pro- 
cedure is the same, with this slight difference, that in certain 
places for the pile of reeds is substituted a small hillock of sand. 

We have been conversing for a couple of hours, and before 
going to rest the aged Ata asks us in turn a question — he can- 
not believe that we are not Russians, and he wants to know why 
we do not come to deliver them from the Chinese. We promise 
him we will do what we can, and, in wishing each other good- 
night, we cordially agree in expressing our detestation of all the 
Chinese. The parents embrace their children, and the family 
affections are evidently strong among these good people. It is 
not a long business for them to go to bed, as they stretch them- 
selves out on the ground, the women remaining in the same room 
as the men, separated only by a sort of awning made of rough 
canvas, and stretched on to reeds from the ceiling. 

Noveiiiber 7. — It is very cold, and when we get up there are 
eight degrees of fi'ost, with a strong northeast wind. Before 
leaving we endeavor to have a little sport in the reeds, but they 
are too thick, and we cannot go far. Moreover, we are told that 
the wild boars, which used to be very abundant here, have been 
driven away by a tiger. So we should gain nothing by going 
further eastward, and if we have any spare time, we prefer to 
ascend the Tarim, this side of Abdullah, toward Lole. Our re- 
turn journey is accomplished without mishap, though we aie 
overtaken by a tempest which at once freezes and blinds us, and 
we are compelled to wrap ourselves up in our touloupes, to pull 
our fur caps down over our ears and eyes, and, having thus volun- 
tarily rendered ourselves deaf and blind, we sit quite still, at the 
risk of getting our feet frozen, so as not to disturb the equilibrium 
of our boats. So we are not sorry to see Couzetrzoff again, and 
the fire before which he is cookina: some birds. 

o 

November 8. — One of my first visits is to the cemetery of 



100 ACROSS THIBET. 

Abdullali, whicli is situated on three sandhills the other side of 
the Tarim, its site being indicated by poles on which are placed 
the heads of horses or the tails of yaks. Upon one of the hillocks, 
perhaps that reserved for the burial of the chiefs, is a small reed 
hut divided into two compartments, in each of which is a sort of 
wooden rack filled with the horns of deer and antelopes, while in 
front of the hut are more stags' antlers and antelope heads dried 
with the skin on them. I bring away a few of these horns, hiding 
them under my coat, and in the afternoon I go off for a ride with 
Barachdin and a guide who is to show us the way to a large lake 
to the southeast. As we leave the village we meet a Mongol 
caravan consisting of about fifty camels and twenty horses, most 
of them fully loaded, coming from Karachar. The Kalmucks wha 
are riding them are on the way to meet their sovereign, who, as 
we learn, has lost most of his beasts of burden on his way from 
Lhassa. It is useless for us to stop and talk with them, for they 
would not give us any interesting information, so we continue 
our march. After riding about six miles, we reach two small 
depressions in the ground which are barely moist, and beyond 
that there is no vegetation, the stony desert extending to the first 
spurs of the Altyn-Tagh. There is not the slightest trace of the 
great lake we had been told of, but our guide says that it was 
there three months ago. He adds that half a day further on 
(extending his hand toward the south) there are ruins nearly 
buried in the sand, only the tops of the houses being visible, 
supposed to be the remains of a large town. 

On our return, we find the village of Abdullah in a state of 
uproar, the whole population rushing about, shouting and gestic- 
ulating ; the men saddling their horses in haste, the women and 
children crying, and two old women, bent double, groaning in 
quavering tones and exclaiming, " Allah ! Allah ! " The horses 
are soon ready, and the men, with Kunchi Khan Bey at their 
head, all make off in the same direction. We watch them till 
they disappear in a cloud of dust, and when we ask the meaning 
of this, the women, who have calmed doAvn a little since the 



FESTIVITIES. 101 

departure of tlieir husbands, sootlied, perhaps, by the consoling 
tones of the gallant Abdullah, proceed to tell us, still sobbing at 
intervals, what has happened. They ask us if we do not see 
something in the direction which the horsemen have taken, and 
when we tell them " No, nothing but dust," they say that the 
men who went off on a shooting expedition a month ago have 
been seen, but that whereas three started only two have returned. 
Two of the three were sons of Kunchi Khan Bey. In the mean- 
while the little band of sportsmen draws closer and then it is seen 
that all thi'ee are there, so that the lamentations are turned into 
rejoicings c][uite as noisy. The whole village went out to meet 
the three men, w^ho were on foot, with emaciated faces and 
clothes much torn, Avalking very slowly and leading three don- 
keys. When asked what had become of the two other beasts, 
they said that they had died of cold, and the loss of these two 
animals excited fresh lamentations from among the old women. 

After the elders who had gone out to meet them had got off 
their horses and kissed them, the young men were made to 
tell the story of their adventures. First they went southward 
and then eastward, and though they had seen a great many 
wild camels they had only killed two, the second at six days' 
march from here. The skins had been cut up into rectangular 
pieces and loaded on a donkey. Nearly all the hair had been 
rubbed off, and they had put it into a bag for fear of its being 
spoilt on the way. 

The return of the chasseurs * and our presence in the village are 
made an occasion for amusements in the evenino;. The women 
put on their smartest things, in most cases a watered silk dress, 
reminding one of the Bokhara stuffs, with red in front, while the 
wives f of the chief have a caftan trimmed with black sheep, 
while one of them wears her rings passed through one end of the 

* Note of the Translator. — It seems a pity that we have not in English a comprehensive 
word like " chasseur " to designate those who go shooting, hunting, or fishing, as the 
case may be. Even ' ' the chase " is only used in English now to designate hunting. 

f It must be remembered that we are among Mussulmans, each of whom has at least 
two wives — they are fairly cheap. 



102 ACROSS THIBET. 

fichii wMcli she lias on lier head, having taken them off her 
fingers for fear of injuring them while cutting reeds for the fire. 
One of the women is rather pretty : a Khotanese, with regular 
features and a pale complexion, which brings into relief hei' big 
black eyes, surmounted by a finely-arched pair of eyebrows. 
Like her companions, she is short in stature, but, being better 
looking, she excites their jealousy. Madame Tocasch, to give her 
her name, very much regrets her native land, finding Abdullah 
too savage, and to mark her disapprobation she ran away a few 
days ago to her parents, who reside at Tcharkalik, but they, 
instead of taking her in, informed her husband, and helped him 
to get her back. An honest man, when he has sold his daughter 
and been paid for her, would consider that he had committed a 
theft if he took her back to the prejudice of his son-in-law, and 
as to the girl herself, she is not consulted in the matter. 

Madame Tocasch shows her superiority over her companions 
by the grace with which she dances. She is accompanied in her 
dance by some of the men, who nod their heads as they move 
round, and stretch out their arms, Avhich are hidden in the long 
sleeves of their kalat (large cloak). Although they are agile 
and light-footed, the dance — to which our Russian plays a tune 
upon his harmonium, two or three of the old women chanting in 
a nasal tone — soon becomes monotonous. 

November 9. — The minimum of temperature is about one 
degree below zero, but although the morning is cold there is no 
wind, and it is, therefore, good weather for going up the Tarim. 
Before leaving Abdullah we make a few final purchases (of 
snares, dried fish, sandals made of donkey skin), payment be- 
ing effected in Chinese money, which has to be weighed, a 
slow and troublesome operation to which we shall have to get ac- 
customed. Kunchi Khan Bey and his family allow themselves 
to be photographed again, and he gives us a supply of small 
loaves of bread made by his wife and wishes us a safe journey. 
We promise him to return " some day," but in the meanwhile we 
have to make a start, and, choosing between various modes of 



THE TARIM FROZEN. 103 

locomotion, I go on foot as far as tlie first Abdullah, where I 
take a cup of tea (with a piece of butter in it) with the old 
centenarian, whose sons are sharpening their spears and getting 
their guns ready for the pursuit of the wild camels. They 
accompany us as far as our canoes, which have arrived from 
the other village of Abdullah, and, with the weather not so 
cold as it was yesterday, we remount the stream, our boatmen 
finding it very hard work to row against the strong current. 
Floating pieces of ice come into collision with our canoes, and 
we are at times almost hemmed in between them, the oars 
having no hold upon their surface. In the bends the river is 
completely frozen over, and we have to break the ice and clear a 
passage, reminding one of polar navigation. The two natives 
who are in charge of our big canoe sing all the time, one having 
a strong harsh voice and the other a shrill one. We imitate 
their singing in order to raise the drooping spirits of our own 
men ; but in spite of all their efforts they cannot make much 
headwa}^, and we have barely advanced ten miles in a straight 
line when we have to stop for the night. Our donkeys and 
horses have overtaken us, and having picketed them, we roll our- 
selves up in our rugs and pass a very pleasant night in the open, 
despite there being twenty-seven degrees of frost. 

November 10. — Navigation, difficult as it was yesterday, now 
becomes impossible, and we have to be content to follow the 
Tarim by going along its banks. We meet boatmen whose canoes 
are firmly fixed in the ice, and they say they have been in this 
plight for three days, unable either to go back or to advance. 
They ask us to give them some food, which we do as far as our 
scanty means permit, and then resume our journey, coming, a 
few miles higher up, on a pile of bags, and of reeds which have 
been cut and laid out on the banks. This is opposite a small 
village called Tchai, the inhabitants of which are about to mi- 
grate to Tcharkalik,^and have already taken their baggage across. 
When they see us making for their bags they take us for thieves, 
and begin to run away ; but when v/e assure them that w^e do 



104 ACROSS THIBET. 

not mean them any harm, they gradually gain confidence, and 
on our offering them a cup of tea they become quite convinced 
that we are friends, and give us all the information we ask for. 
They tell us that the sheet of water from which we see the Tarim 
issue, a hundred yards or so above Tchai, is the Karabouran, 
though it is little more than a series of inundations representing 
the largest stretch of water to be found in the Lob ISTor. It 
begins at the village of Lob, and ends here, being interspersed 
at many points by lagoons or islets. It is nowhere more than 
three feet deep, in most places only a foot, while the lake which 
we skirted above Lob is the Kemezetiantche, which does not 
communicate with the Karabouran, for since Prjevalsky came 
into the district the course of the Tarim has been changed, and 
the level of the waters has dropped. 

These indications save us the trouble of following the bank of 
the Karabouran, so that we determine to make a short cut across 
the country opposite Tchai. 

While the light still lasts I try for a little shooting on the 
Karabouran ; but we have great difficulty in getting the canoe 
there, as the current of the Tai'im is very strong at the entrance 
to the lake, and when we get there it is a sheet of ice, so we have 
to give up the idea of going any frrther. My excursion, though 
a brief one, is not altogether fruitless, for I succeed in bringing 
down, with No. 4 shot, a very fine white swan of the species which 
is domesticated with us, as he flies over my head, while with a 
bullet I kill a goose flying in the midst of a flock, these being 
two shots which I should be sorry to back myself to repeat. In 
the evening the natives attempt to surprise us by their learning, 
and they repeat the word " Paclisouda," which they have retained 
in their memory since the visit of Prjevalsky. 

November 11. — Commencing our march by moonlight, we 
observe for the first time the phenomenon which will strike us 
so often upon the highlands, viz., a sudden drop of the temper- 
ature as the moon appears above the horizon. 'We are at present 
very insufficiently protected against the cold, and although we 



A MARCH BY MOONLIGHT. 105 

ai'e walking we sliiver from liead to foot, while, for my own part, 
I do not know what to do with my hands, which are so numbed 
that I cannot get them warm. We have no choice but to wait 
till the sun has got up, when a fresh trouble arises. We are 
in a desert the sand of which is in many places covered with 
a layer of salt, and the refraction is so great that we are con- 
■stantly being led astray by the mirages, while w^e are dazzled, 
blinded, and half-roasted by the sun into the bargain. It seems 
as if all the sun's rays were converging upon us, and as if there 
were no choice but to let ourselves bejthoroughly baked. 

Our horses do not seem to be so much affected by it as we 
are, and I really believe that they can smell their stable, though 
still more than thirty miles oft'. There is no road, and we have 
to guide ourselves by the compass ; but the instinct of our horses 
is the best guide, and we speed along at such a rate that a courier 
sent forward by Bonvalot has scarcely time to hand us a letter. 
It arrives rather late, for we are already in the oasis, and before 
long we see a rivulet, some gorse, then some tamarisks, several 
small poplars,"^' and last of all, Rachmed, going oft' at a great pace 
after " those wretched hares." In a few minutes we are in the 
camp, which has the aspect of a small town, with people coming 
and going in all directions, buying and selling, gossiping, and 
nailing down boxes, while in the center of the camp is our little 
tent, beneath which Bonvalot, with his legs crossed Turkish 
fashion, is enjoying a meal of sparrows, cooked on a skewer with 
slices of sheep's liver in between them. 

All is well at Tcharkalik, our Russians are preparing for their 
return, and two men of the country have been engaged to accom- 
pany us. The provisions are gradually accumulating ; bread is 
being baked with plenty of salt in it, sheep's paunches are being 
filled with fat, the salt is being purified, and the preparations are 
Avell advanced. Our men, however, were very much obstructed 
in their work by a tempest which lasted two days, blew down 
the tent, and covered everything with sand. M. Bonvalot has 
eft'ected a regular massacre of hares, and we, in return, give him 

* Populus diversifolia. 



106 



ACROSS THIBET. 



an account of our excursion, wliicli has lasted a week, and in the 
course of wlncli we have traced the course of the Tarini in the 
Loh Nor, and liave ascertained that this latter name does not 
apply to a lake, but to all the marshy portion of the country 

watered by the Taiim, from 
"^ the villao:e of Lob to the 
^ end of the river. 

The largest stretch of 
water in this region is the 
Karaboni'an, a tract under 
water between Lob and 
Tchai. The waters of the 
Tarini are not salt, while 
there are springs of fresh 
water (Eutin) in the Lob 
Nor, but the water of the 
pools formed by the Tarim 
upon a saltpeter surface 
is brackish. Each year the quantity of water which the 
Tarim brings into the country decreases, the pools dry up, 
and the reeds are more and more covered by the sand which 
is gradually driving the inhabitants toward Tcharkalik, so 
the time is not far distant when the reoion called the Lob 
Nor will no longer be distinguishable from the desert into 
the midst of which it now advances like a narrow ribbon of 
verdure unwindino; itself from west to east for a distance of about 
seventy-five miles. 




SPINNING WOMAN AT ABDULLAH 



CHAPTER V. 

FEOM TCHAKKALIK TO BOULAK BACHL 

" Tlie Southern Road " — Taking- Stock — New Recruits : Timour and Isa — Festivities at 
Tcliarkalili — A Nomad Moralist and Poet — Tramps — Prince Henry's Return — 
Taking a Chief into Custody — The Doungane and his Master — The Start — Yan- 
dachli^ak — The Altyn-Tagh — Valley of the Djahan-Sai — Tchoukour-Sai — Through a 
Canon — Prince Henry Lost. 

Novertiher 1. — We* are so far from liaving completed our work 
that what we have hitherto clone has been little more than a 
simple excursion, attended by drawbacks so trifling that they 
merely gave an interest to the journey. I have said that the 
first stage was Kourla, the second is Tcharkalik, and the third 
would be Ba-Tang, if all continues to go as well as at present. 
Ba-Tang is a long way off, separated from us by deserts and the 
unknown. After Ba-Tang we hope to reach Tonquin, at the 
other end of Asia, but when traveling one has not, fortunately, 
much time to reflect upon the difliculties before one. In the 
meantime we have constantly in our minds the passage in the 
narrative of the English traveler Carey, published in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Geographical Society of England, in which he 
speaks of a route going to Lhassa by the Kizil-Sou, a river sup- 
posed to be beyond the mountain chain which Prjevalsky saw, 
and which he named Columbo. Carey had heard the natives 
talk of this route, but they had never shown it to him. Accord- 
ing to rumor it is more direct than that of the Tsaidame Avhich 
joins the route of the Koukou-Nor, first traveled by Fathers Hue 
and Grabet, and afterward by Prjevalsky. 

We must, therefore, at all costs discover this route which, in 
talking of it, we call '' the southern road." We send our men to 
make inquiries, and each of them endeavors to light upon the 

* The narrative is here resumed by M. Bouvalot.— Translator. 

107 



108 ACROSS THIBET. 

invaluable individual who kno\vs it and is willing to guide us. 
But the mere fact of one of them having asked in a stupid sort 
of way is sufficient to prevent us getting any definite information. 
Moreover, very few of our men care to pui'sue the journey. Our 
three Siberians are going to leave us. They had agreed to come 
as far as the Lob Nor, but I cannot persuade them to come on 
farther, and the Doungane camel-driver is also anxious to come 
back, being only kept with us by the promise ot high pay. So 
we look out for volunteers in the district, and two offer their 
services, one of them knowing the Bogalik road which Carey 
took. We promise them good wages, and their arrival helps to 
raise the spirits of the Dounganes. 

The chief of our camel-drivers, the aged Imatch, though he 
w^alks Avith great difficulty, will hold on to the last, and will go 
wherever the Khotanlis go. Parpa has already been over the 
road, and he does not appear to bleed from the nose, but he has 
a mysterious way I don't much like when I speak to him of the 
southern route. If he is to be believed, he is acquainted with a 
very good guide, but does not know his name. He says, how- 
ever, that he can find him, and begs permission to go and ask for 
information in the villao;e and in the farms scattered about in 
the bush. He returns without bringing any important tidings, 
and I soon ascertain that he has been after something very 
diffei'ent from the southern route. 

As to our interpreter Abdullah, surnamed the "little man," 
he is still a terrible talkei", and a busybody who sees that things 
are not progressing as he would like. He did not think we were 
in earnest when we talked at Kuldja of going to Ba-Tang, his 
idea being that we should perhaps go as far as Kourla, and then 
follow the main imperial road to Pekin, or that, at the outside, 
we sliould go as far as the Lob Nor and then return. Noav he is 
beginning to get anxious, and would like to dissuade us fi'om 
going further, so we are convinced that we shall not get informa- 
tion of any value from him, though he professes to be more or 
less enthusiastic. 



NEW RECRUITS. 



109 



To judge by what we have seen of the two fresh recruits, we 
shall have reason to be satisfied with them later on. The elder 
is called Timour and has been a shepherd, while he goes in for 
gold-mining and the chase when he has leisure. He is a married 
man, and cultivates a small plot of ground, and as he has often 
explored the Altyn-Tagh and the Tchimen-Tagh he does not feel 
any hesitation about accompanying us over the high table-lands. 
He executes orders without any trouble, is a quick worker and 




DONKEYS AND SHEEP ON THE KOAD. 



has the credit of being indefatigable on the march, while he 
takes good care of the horses and camels. He is always in good 
spirits, and, this being a very important point, is content with 
his lot at Tcharkalik. A very small piece of sugar suffices to 
make him happy, and he seems to take an interest in all we do, 
for he looks at our arms with manifest pleasure and tells us the 
names of the bii'ds we have prepared for our collection. In the 
evening we can hear him singing and telling stories, and when 



110 ACROSS THIBET. 

Raclimecl or one of the others is relating an anecdote, he follows 
all the details of it with close attention. In short, he is a poet 
and an adventurer. When asked if it will be cold in the 
southern mountains, he says yes, and thrusts his hands under his 
sleeves and warms them under his armpits. "But," he adds 
with a laugh, " that will be nothing." Withal he is not too tall 
nor too stout, is very alert, dances w^ell, knows so many prayers 
by heart that he is taken for a moUah, and possesses remedies for 
various complaints. 

The other man, who is only about twenty, is called Isa. He is 
full of vigor, and can skin a sheep very dexterously, and cook 
rice well. He is equally good at eating both, and he takes an 
interest in all that relates to cooking, Avhile he is ready to split 
wood, light the fire and attend to it, fetch water, and clean out 
the saucepans. He has a very loud laugh, but so natural that 
one likes to hear it, especially as he is generally rather stern. 
He has a good memory, though he is said to be given to smok- 
ing hasheesh in small quantities, but those whom he has pre- 
viously served give him a good character. I saw him one night 
sleeping on a mat before the fire with no covering except a khalat, 
torn in several places. He was sleeping very soundly, though 
the fire had gone out and the miniiuum temperature of the night 
was two degrees below zero. As he was very well the next day,- 
aud had not caught the slightest cold, I did not want to know 
more. 

We renew our provisions, the important thing being to insure 
plenty for the subsistence of men and beasts, as from all >we 
have read, and from all we can learn on the spot, those w^ho have 
preceded us were obliged to turn back from want of provisions. 
It is as important to feed the beasts of burden well as the men, 
for when the means of transport fail all exploring is impossible. 

As we can procure flour and barley here and get it made into 
bread, we employ all the women in the place, one procuring us 
one hundred pounds, and another fifty pounds, and we make them 
bake a small quantity at a time, and taste it to see that it is what 



FESTIVITIES AT TGHAEEALIK. Ill 

we want. We buy all the dried fruits we can get, as well as rope, 
liorse-shoes, and nails, while we have winter clothing made for 
the horses and camels. 

The men's pelisses are sewn and made larger, trousers and leg- 
gings are made out of sheepskins, and plenty of leather leggings 
are provided, as well as leather stockings, into which the foot is 
inserted after it has been well wrapped up in felt. One of our 
Russians is a shoemaker, and we employ him to make our felt 
boots, while the men prepare their own according to the fashion 
of their respective tribes. 

There is a regular market every day upon the outskirts of our 
little camp, and what with the chaffering, the disputing, and the 
laughing, the scene is very animated. We gradually get on 
friendly terms with the natives, and at the end of a week have 
acquired a certain degree of authority at Tcharkalik. AVe have 
created a " French party " in the place, and it is among the mem- 
bers of this party that we shall find men to transport our provi- 
sions for a month or more. 

On the birthday festival of Mohammed the authorities came 
in a body to pay^a visit and offer us presents. They were 
anxious that we should participate in their rejoicings, for we were 
far from home and hearth, and it would be unbecoming if they 
were not to invite us. I thanked them and repeated the assur- 
ance that we had no bad intentions in our hearts, affirming that our 
acts would always be in keeping with our'words. They said they 
believed what we told them, and asked permission to entertain 
oui men. This, of course, I readily granted, and all da}^ long the 
festival of Mohammed was celebrated by feasts, songs, dances, 
and sports, in which Rachmed, who is very agile, obtained marked 
success. Two sheep which we had given them were cooked in 
the immense pot belonging to the mosque. This pot came to a 
bad end, as Ave burst it while using it to refine crystallized salt — a 
mishap of evil omen which was atoned for by a pi^esent. 

November 8. — A terrible tempest from the northeast howled all 
night, and compels us to construct a shelter for our kitchen. The 



112 



ACROSS THIBET. 



S^. 



temperature drops very suddenly, and tliis morning the natives 
appear in the guise of Northerners, all of them wearing sheep- 
shins and the furs of wild animals, such as foxes aiid wolves. 

Our people avail themselves of the op- 
poi'tunity to try on their winter costumes, 
and very odd some of them look. 

A man arrived in the course of the 
morning from Abdullah village with 
donkeys and horses, bringing at the same 
time some wild duck, and a letter from 
Prince Hemy. Another piece of news 
announces the arrival at Abdullah of 
four Kalmucks, who are believed to form 
the advance guard of the Khan of the 
Kalmucks, this personage being on his 
way back from a jjilgrimage to Lhassa. 
He is expected to arrive in a very deplor- 
able condition, as his caravan has been 
decimated, and he has lost two hundred 
camels and twenty men. He has made 
the return journey chiefly with koutasses 
(yaks), and has come by way of the Tsai- 
dame, for the messenger says that when the Khan of the Kal- 
mucks attempted to reach the " City of the Spirits," some twenty 
years ago, by way of the Kizil-Sou, he had to turn back because 
the mountains were impassable. 

The Aksakal of Khotanli having brought me some marmot 
fat as a cure for an attack of rheumatism from which I am suf- 
fering, I questioned him about the route of the Kizil-Sou, and, 
without giving a definite opinion, he let me understand that lit- 
tle importance was to be attached to Avhat the Lobi say. As re- 
gards the difficulties of the route, he says there can be no doubt 
as to that, and that upon one occasion, when he went in the direc- 
tion of Bogalik with one hundred and fifty asses to bring back 
gold and skins, he lost a number of his beasts and some of his 




A NOMAD MORALIST AND POET. 113 

companions. Their deatli was due to tlie cold, and above all to 
the pestilential odors emitted from the soil, which were even 
more fatal to the asses than to the men. It is impossible to learn 
anything definite as to this route, the existence of which we re- 
gard as more than probable. The natives of Lob and Tcharka- 
lik have never followed it, and the Kalmuck pilgrims have no 
information on the subject. Parpa asserts that a guide whom he 
kno^vs is returning with the band of the Khan of the Torgoutes, 
and he asks leave to go and meet him at Abdullah. This leave 
I refuse, as he has two months' wages in his pocket, and with the 
cold weather setting in he might be tempted to return home . 

After the tempest, the atmosphere is more free from dust, and 
the sky becomes clear. It freezes, however, harder than the 
natives care about, the minimum under the tent being 10°. This 
sudden fall of temperature has alarmed the population, all of 
whom have quitted their houses, and they make oif into the 
bush, those who are strong enough to do so carrying a fagot on 
their backs. The Aryk is frozen over, and the fields in fallow 
are white mth frost. 

We, too, are impatient to follow the example of the swallows^ 
the last of which have been driven by the tempest to warmer 
climes. After this storm had raged for two days, the sun re- 
appeared, and, with the sparrows chirruping and the natives 
returning to our camp, business begins to look up again. For 
the purchase of the smallest bit of cloth or a pound of grapes 
interminable speeches are made, and the names of Allah and of 
Mohammed his prophet are incessantly invoked, 

November 9. — The minimum is two degrees below zero, with 
a refreshing breeze from the northwest, while it is 60° in the sun. 
The natives have turned the waters of the Aryk into the wells, 
so as to secure a full supply for the mnter ; and for the last 
week the mills have been going in anticipation of this drought, 
each householder being anxious to have plenty of flour in store. 

A singer, who seems to me very proficient, accompanies him- 
self upon a guitar, and gives us a song as we sit in front of the 



114 ACROSS THIBET. 

fire ; wliile the dancers, male and female, are going througli tlieir 
performances in more or less graceful attitudes. The burden of 
his song is that the world is all delusion, and that man is always 
lookino; for the realization of desires which it would be as diffi- 
cult for him to obtain as it would be to seize the moon, though 
he sees her every month. 

He is said to be the author of the couplets he sings, and we 
ask him to accompany us and bring with him his guitar, which 
is made of two pieces of poplar wood ; for a moralist like him 
would be a desirable acquisition to our party. He has traveled 
about a good deal, having been to Yarkand, and prospected for 
gold in all sorts of places, but he does not appear to have made 
his fortune, and it is his disappointments that have inspired him 
with this doleful song. He has the reputation of being an 
honest fellow, and at the festival of Mohammed he won the wrest- 
ling prize in the "Olympic" games. Although a native of 
Khotanli, he is the intimate friend of a certain AbduUah-Ousta 
who is very proficient in the art of iron-working, and who be- 
longs to Lob. Some years ago Tokta, as the singer is called, 
did a considerable service to the aged Abdullah. The latter 
had got lost while pursuing wild camels, and would not have 
been able to rejoin his companions had not Tokta come upon 
him when he was almost dead with hunger and fatigue. From 
this time the two men have been very much attached to each other. 

We have ordered some iron, nails, and pegs from AbduUah- 
Ousta, and we hope to enroll him in our party ; for Tokta assures 
us that there is no one better acquainted with the mountain than 
the old man, who is still very vigorous, though his beard is white. 
If he consents to accompany us his example will be followed by 
many others. 

Tokta, before leaving us, says that we shall get plenty of help 
if the white-beards of the Lobis do not interfere, and that the 
Khotanlis are all in our favor. 

Kachmed says that Tokta may be trusted, because he is 
" saia." 



TRAMPS. 115 

"Wliatis 'saia'?" 

" A man like ourselves, who cannot stay long in one place 
owino;: to his mother's fault." 

" Explain yourself." 

" That is what happened in my case, and must have done in 
that of Tokta. Our mothers, when pregnant with us, traveled 
through the desert on camels ; and as they strained their eyes to 
see beyond the horizon they made of us ' saia,' or tramps. And 
that is why we are again about to march south^vard, and Allah 
alone knows when and where we shall stop. And we shall do 
well to start, for the route seems to me a long one, while those 
€ursed camels do not go fast." 

Thereupon Rachmed reproaches me for having taken him into 
my ser\T.ce when he scarcely had any beard, of having made him 
grow more white hairs than black, and of having made him miss 
several desirable marriages. Then, being very volatile, he flies 
off at a tangent and plays some joke upon the man next him, 
loading him with the insults which the Uzbegs j^i'ofter in all 
good humor. 

Kachmed is right ; it is urgent that we should start, but all is 
not ready. The Doungane must make up his mind to go, and 
then we can apportion the loads according to the strength of the 
different animals. At least forty donkeys and ten men are re- 
quired to relieve our own beasts a little, and feed them, as well 
as the men, for a month. The Khotanlis have as good as prom- 
ised us half, but the question is whether the Lobis will supply 
the other half. It is always difficult to get prepared for every 
contingency when setting out for a long march. We find this 
out once more, and Rachmed confidently mentions that he has 
doubts ^vith reg-ard to the Douno;ane and the Lobi. 

As soon as Prince Henry and Dedeken return from the Lob 
\ve shall settle these questions ; in the meantime the best course 
^\'ill be to display great amiability, to pay liberally, and never to 
refuse a request for medicine or drugs. 

Kovemljer 11. — While busy eating some roast sparrows cooked 



116 



ACROSS THIBET. 



by Parpa, I heard tlie voice of Prince Henry, who arrived in liigli 
spirits after a journey of over forty miles since daybreak He 
appears to be in excellent liealtli and condition, and Ms first 
question, after inquiring how we all are, was as to when we were 
to start. While I was telling him how we are situated Father 
Dedeken arrived, and to celebrate our reunion we had tea got 
ready and a repast cooked. While it was in preparation we 



^ 



'^! 




AT THE FOOT OF THE ALTTN-TAGH. 



talked of the Lob Nor, and their conclusion is that it is but a 
vast marsh interspersed with jungles, amid which are hidden the 
dwellings of fishermen. 

Before starting we have to arrange for the return of our three 
Siberians, as they are to go back to Kuldja mth our collections 
and letters, which the Russian consul will send on for us to 
Paris. We give them camels for conveying the packages to 
Kourla, where they will purchase an arba (sort of wagon), for it 
is their intention to return by the imperial highway of Ouromtsi, 



TAKING A CHIEF INTO CUSTODY. 117 

making tlie circait of tlie Celestial Mountains. We give them 
plenty of food and ammunition, and should have much liked to 
retain at least one of the three, but Barodjdine was married, aud 
Maltzoif had undertaken the journey so as to make a small sum 
for his wedding, while the third, Kousnetzoff, whom we had 
eno:a2:ed at Tioumen, would not have been as useful to us as 
either of the others, for he is no longer young, and is unfitted for 
very severe labor ; but as an assistant in our naturalist work he has 
always been most conscientious and willing, using care, order, and 
patience. We cannot be too thankful to him or say too much in 
his favor. 

November 12. — We ask the municipality to supply ns, at a 
price to be mutually agreed npon, with horses and with donkeys 
to carry a portion of our provisions as far as the vicinity of the 
Kizil-Sou, by way of the Bogalik route. We are promised an 
answer for to-morrow, after a council has been held. 

November 13. — This morning we see a large body of men 
approaching our camp ; the chiefs and nearly all the people of the 
village, Khotanlis and Lobis alike, being present. They halt at 
the threshold of om" temporary domain, and a tall fellow mth a 
scanty goatee, whom we have not seen before, opens the conversa- 
tion and explains himself to Rachmed, who interprets what he 
says. We learn that the speaker is the principal chief of the 
Lobis, and he says in so many words that they will give us neither 
men nor asses, because it is too cold for mountaineering, and that 
to travel over the mountains at this season is certain death, etc. 

Rachmed, in very gentle terms, insists. He reminds his hear- 
ers " of the good we have done in the country, of the money we 
have spent in it, of the high prices we have paid for everything 
with the object of being of service to the poor vendors," then he 
asks how it is that the promises made to us but yesterday are 
not kept, and inquires whether we have given reason for suppos- 
ing that we shall not pay as we have promised to do. 

In the meanwhile we learn that secret oi'ders have arrived 
from Kourla. The Lobi chiefs are said to have been prohibited 



118 AGBOSS THIBET. 

from rendering us any assistance, and as they have asked for tlie 
aid of the Chinese against the Khotanlis they are determined to 
obey orders and to put obstacles in our way. 

The Lobi chief gets arrogant, and exclaims " By Jupiter ! If 
you want donkeys you shall pay twice their value, and I won't 
sell you any. As to men for your service, not one shall leave 
the country. We are not under any bond to you, we do not 
pay you a tax, we pay it to the Chinese. No, we are under no 
bond to you, and we are not afraid of you ! We have numbers 
on our side, we are brave, you cannot frighten us ! " 

As he spoke, Rachmed, who felt the necessity of immediate 
action, used the argumenttcm ad hommem, and began to belabor 
this great orator. His own people were inclined to defend him, 
but we di'ove them back by threatening them with our weapons, 
and kept the leader in custody, stating that we would only release 
him in exchange for the eighteen donkeys and five horses which 
constituted the contingent the Lobis were to supply. The Kho- 
tanlis then intervened and acted as mediators between the two 
parties, interceding for the chief, who was very downcast, and 
promising that they would make things all right. 

We hear the exclamations of the women upon the roofs and 
in the brushwood ; the dogs bark, the donkeys bray, and there is 
a general uproar. 

However, the chief, whom we had in our clutches, was con- 
soled with a cup of well-sugared tea. Timour advised him to 
think better of his decision, as he had everything to gain by 
obeying us, and as we were certain not to give him his liberty 
again until we had made sure of his co-opei*ation. 

The chief then asked for one of his men, and ordered him to 
" give them what they ask for." This messenger returned to the 
assembly which was being held some distance off, in fi'ont of the 
palace of a chief who has a wife belonging to Lob, though he is 
a native of Khotan. Some emissaries were at once sent back to 
us to ask that the king may be set at liberty. But we refused 
this unless certain guarantees were given us. The messengers 



COMING TO TERMS. 119 

returned and a fresli council was held, witli tlie result tliat they 
came back in a body, accompanied by the graybeards, who swore 
that we should have as many donkeys, guides, and gunners as we 
desired, but they were not to go further than the land of the 
Kalmucks of the Tsaidame. 

They add : " We cannot show you the donkeys, because 
there has not been time to collect them, but here are the Lobis 
who will accompany you." The men are then made to step 
forward, and we are asked to examine them. Then follow 
declarations " by the beard " and " by Jupiter," and all the 
divinities are invoked, the crowd approves, gesticulates, and lifts 
up its voice, while all around us are people smiling, waving their 
arms with suppliant gestures, grinning amicably, and murmuring 
assent to whatever any of the others may say. 

It is only at the last extremity that we agree to let the chief 
have his liberty, when the crowd and the chiefs who inhabit 
Tcharkalik have authorized us, by their beards, to indulge in 
reprisals if they fail in their promise to supply us with what we 
require. They instruct one of their men, who offered us hospi- 
tality on our arrival, and with whom we have always been on 
friendly terms, to organize the contingent. Our host assents 
with a nod, while the other chiefs inform us that they are going 
to be absent for several days, their duty being to go and meet 
the Khan of the Kalmucks on his way back from Lhassa. 

The principal chief, having been set at liberty, soon comes 
to take leave of us, and, with his nose slightly swollen, repeats 
the promises already made, and swears that he has given orders 
for them to be executed. After a profuse display of politeness, 
he mounts his horse and rides off. Our camp relapses into com- 
parative silence, the crowd having dispersed, but we hear on all 
sides fresh exclamations and positive lamentations. What can 
have happened ? Upon inquiry we find that all the noise is 
being made by the women whose beasts have been requisitioned, 
and who are moaning and groaning to each other on the I'oofs 
over the sad fate of their jackasses ! 



130 ACROSS THIBET. 

We ai'e not dissatisfied witli tile day's work ; tlie submission 
of tlie Lobis has led to that of the Doungane camel-driver, who 
obstinately declined to go any further, despite the engagement 
he had entered into, and a treaty signed with his thumb, or 
rather to which he had applied his thumb smeared in ink. But 
although the Doungane resigns himself to his fate, it is not 
without heaping maledictions upon those who have acted as 
interpreters. He keeps on exclaiming, '■'■ I have been j)ut into a 
bag," and vents his ill-humor upon his servitor Niaz, who is a 
native of Tourfan. And as Niaz has not been paid his wages, 
he retorts by asking for what is owing to him, and even for a 
little on account, as he is not clad warmly enough to encounter 
severe cold. But his master is sordidly mean, and, as Niaz says, 
is the worst-tempered person in China. We have to interfere on 
his behalf, whereupon the Doungane takes the opportunity of 
asking for an advance from us, for he says that he has to settle 
his accounts and send money to Kourla. Maz tells us not to 
believe a word of this, and says that his master will not pay his 
debts, but will hoard up his money. 

November 15. — All these petty things indicate that it is high 
time to be off, so we finish off our preparations, writing letters, 
and paying the men who are going back, as well as those who are 
coming with us, and others who have supplied us with provisions. 
We have added to our caravan three dogs of the country, two of 
which are enormous hounds of the kind here called "pista," forty 
donkeys, and a dozen men in two detachments, one under the 
orders of AbduUah-Ousta, the other commanded by Tokta, the 
Khotanli. We have, I think, taken every conceivable precaution 
against the unknown, for we have with us tAvo canoes and paddles 
in case of our being brought to a standstill by a river, and if we 
do not want them for the water we may be glad of them as fuel. 

November 16. — All is ready. We take with us 700 small 
bundles of hay to feed our horses, which are bound to die off 
the first. We have taken into account the probabilities, not to 
say the certainty, of deaths, in order to fix the quantity of rations 



LEAVING TCHARKALIK. 121 

we need to take witli us, and it is in proportion to the number of 
beasts of burden that we have ; so that the load may decrease as 
the animals die, and that the survivors may not be overburdened 
just when their strength has declined. Experience tells us about 
how much is wanted to feed the fourteen men of our regular 
army for live or, at the outside, six months. 

The sight of these bags and chests imparts courage to Each- 
med, who exclaims : " With the help of Allah, all will be well." 
Yet, if we are to believe the natives, we shall not go far, for they 
say that the camels will not be able to cross the Altyn-Tagh if 
they follow the route taken by the Englishman Carey, while the 
" little man " will have it that Prjevalsky was of the same opinion. 
However, we are impatient to put the matter to the test, and the 
start is fixed for the I'Tth. 

November 17. — In the morning the animals were loaded, amid 
a scene of great excitement, the whole population being present 
— women, children, friends, and relatives of those who are going 
with us. It was not merely the sight of our departure which 
attracted them, for they had come for the same reason as the 
sparrows, which, perched on the willows near the camp, were only 
waiting for our departure to swoop do^vn upon the grains of 
barley on the ground, just as the crowd of onlookers was eager to 
seize the empty boxes and bits of cloth which we were leaving 
behind. 

At last the caravan is ready, and we start, amid bright sun- 
shine, accompanied by the chiefs on horseback, who Avill go with 
us to the camp, a few miles from Tcharkalik, the first stage being 
always a very short one. It terminates at the entrance to the 
desert, upon the other bank of the small stream which forms 
the oasis, and from which ^^^e shall once again get good water. 
This, to us, who have drunk so much brackish water, is the most 
delicious of liquids. 

Forty minutes on horseback suffice to take us out of the oasis 
into the desert, and as we get out of the saddle to sit upon the 
felt where the chiefs offer us '' the stirrup cup," we cast a glance 



122 ACROSS THIBET. 

toward the Gobi, witli its deceptive mirage of beautiful lakes, 
the mountaius to the southeast just emerging out of the mist. 

Before sunset the elders bid us farewell, the Soni chief, who 
is not the least cordial among them, being of the number. To 
him, as to the others, we olfer a present, and they say, as they 
wish us a successful journey, " May Allah grant you good health, 
and take you back safe and sound to youi' families who are so 
far olf. We are poor, and we have not been able to do as much 
for you as we could have washed. You will excuse us. May 
Allah protect you ! " 

We shook hands with them and thanked them, regretting 
there should have been a little misunderstanding, but they had 
never seen any men of our race, and were suspicious. We ex- 
pressed a hope that they would henceforth receive any of our 
countrymen with open arms, and would not retain an unpleasant 
recollection of us, but regard us as friends. Then they exchanged 
confidences with the goldseekers and trappers who have deter- 
mined to go with us, and who say, " Look after my father ; urge 
my wife to be patient in my absence. Give her corn on credit ; I 
will pay when I come back. Take care of yourself. May Allah 
keep you," etc. Then they embraced one another, those of the 
same family kissing lip to lip, while others squeezed the hand of 
their seniors, who imprinted a kiss upon their foreheads. Next 
a graybeard recited a prayer, and when he had done, they all 
raised their hands to the beard and exclaimed, " Allah is great." 

The mfe of Timour, a small and very active brunette, has 
remained mth her husband. She is very quick at sewing bags, 
while her son, a little boy of four, clad in sheepskin, with a dirty 
face, snub nose, and the small and piercing black eyes of his father, 
amuses himself by tapping the boxes and singing, ''There is 
only one Allah," until, at sunset, our three Russians make up 
their minds to part from their companions. After an exchange 
of embraces and good Welshes, they return to our camp of the 
morning, where they have left their baggage. We hope that the 
letters they have taken Avill get to Europe in about three months, 



YAyiJACHKAK. 123 

and we go to sleep after liaving gossipj)ed about the future, beino- 
all of us agreed that so far we liave succeeded wondei-fully well. 

Novemher 18. — The uiinimum temperature of the nio-ht was 
only 16 degrees of frost, but this was sufficient to fi-eeze the 
river, and we take some ice out of it. AVe shall not get any 
drinkable water at the place where we encamj) to-uio-ht, and iu 
future these lumps of ice ^vill be oui' only diink. 

We are in the bare and stony desert, to om- right beino- a dark 
and indistinct mass looming out of the mist, which the ao-ed 
Abdullah says is the Altyn-Tagh, the gold mountains, which have 
not before been visible in om- apj^roach to them. Thev appear 
to be lofty, but none of theii' details can be disting-uished, and no 
peak is visiljle. On the other side, he tells us, begins the land 
of ice, and ^ve shall find it veiy cold. 

Our troop is rather silent, and the men, instead of chatting 
cheei'fuUy, as is their wont, flick theii' horses in a mechanical 
sort of way, with a fixed look on theii' faces. The morrow of 
separation is always melancholy, especially when one is bound for 
the unknown, and neither physically nor nonnally is one up to the 
mark. 

We approach some sandhills on our left, the outjDosts of 
the Grobi It is here that we are to encamp, our donkeys and 
the flock of sheep we take with us for food on the road following^ 
us veiy closely, and making a pretty picture as they are diiven 
along by men wearing ^vhite frieze. From the sand we get on to 
takirs foiined of clay, and then again on to the sand, goino- up 
and down hillocks foiTaed by the crumbling away of the moun- 
tain and the sweepings of the plain. 

Abdullah-Ousta, getting off his horse, begins to search for 
traces of water, which he is not long in discovering by the 
proximity to the salt on the sui'face, and when the donkeys have 
been unloaded, the men take theii" pickaxes and dig a hole, which 
is soon filled with salt water. 

We make some tea, which we diink pending the arrival of the 
camels with the ice, and though it is not veiy nice we must 



124 AC'BOSS THIBET. 

apprentice ourselves to the desert. I have often noticed that 
whenever one starts on a long expedition there are some cases of 
illness in the caravan, and to-day four or five men declare that 
they are quite done up, though the stage was a .very short one 
and we had been favored with beautiful weather. This is what 
one may call desert sickness, similar to the discomfort experienced 
by some sailors for the fij^st f cav days they are at sea. 

This place, called Yandachkak, abounds mth ioulgoun (tam- 
arisks), and our brilliantly illuminated encampment reminds me 
of one in the Oustcourt, where there was an abundance of the 
saksaoul. In the evening we have no fewer than four fires going 
at once, and our men might perhaps be more economical of their 
fuel, but the thought that, further on, they will not be able to 
get any, makes them anxious to make the most of the oppor- 
tunity, and there is nothing more cheerful than the flames of a 
bright fire lighting up the gloom of the desert. 

After supper AbduUah-Ousta, accompanied by some of the 
men, comes to talk to us and to ask if we are still determined 
to folloAv the " old road," as that taken by Carey is called. He 
pouits out that we shall be brought to a stop by two passes, and 
he repeats that Carey, with donkeys, had the greatest difficulty 
in passing them, as Parpa would tell us. The fii'st is called the 
" sand pass," and one reaches the foot of it by so narrow a gorge 
that very probably the camels ^vould not be able to traverse it. 
Moreover, there is no sort of track over the sand pass. The 
second is called the " pass of stones," and its name indicates that 
it is very dano;erous to camels' feet. His conclusion is that we 
should follow the " road of the Kalmucks " — that is to say, the 
Tsaidame route — which is the best, while by the old road we 
should be five days without water. 

While thanking him for his observations, we repeat that we 
intend to follow the " old road," our conviction being that this is 
the branch of the southern route which we are intent on finding, and 
we add that nothino- will induce us to chano;e our minds till we 
get proof to the contrary. The men withdra^w after promising 







XCHOUKOUE-SAI. 



VALLEY OF THE DJARAN-SAI. 127 

to serve us faitlifully and obey us implicitly, and we send them 
a little tea and sugar, wliich tliey drink while seated around tlie 
cheerful fires. The air is filled with melody, which proceeds from 
Tokta, our poet, who is scraping his '' dambourak," and, with a 
pure voice, is singing a very plaintive song, which strikes one as 
charming in this environment. The song seems to be inspired 
by the sand, by the cavity out of which the brackish water is 
dra^vn, and by the sterility of the soil. It is the song of one 
who confesses to being overcome by nature — the plaint of a 
captive asking if he can ever escape from the forbidding soli- 
tude in which he is enveloped. 

Novemher 19. — At break of day, we hear that the camels are 
missing. Men start oil' in search of them in all directions, and it 
is not long before they are led back through the desert. 

The route is monotonous and stony, and the higher we get the 
larger become the stones, which trappers have piled up at short 
intervals so as to mark off the road. 

At last, the Altyn-Tagh is visible to our right, its slopes ap- 
pearing devoid of all vegetation, eaten into as they have been by 
the waters ; and the eye can follow the burrows in which the 
shadows wind along, deeper or shallower according as whether 
they denote the course of the streams, the torrents, or the riv- 
ulets, by which the water drains off the mountain. 

Having marched for six hours nearly due east, we halt in a 
valley watered by the Djahan-Sai, which also bears the name of 
Kountchi Kan, a great Lob chief. He is said to have come from 
the Tsaidame with his flocks, and having discovered this river 
while on a hunting expedition, it took his fancy, and he brought 
his family to settle there. This river is said always to have 
plenty of water, which we can quite believe, as its whitish, milky 
color indicates that it proceeds from a glacier. The natives say, 
indeed, that there is a small glacier at its source. The volume 
of water in this river is considerable, but the sands suck it all up 
before it reaches the Lob. About ten miles to the north of our 
camp, half-way to Abdullah, the land is irrigated and cultivated, 



128 ACROSS THIBET. 

and after tlie harvest is gathered the tillers of the soil go to live 
in varions villages near Lake Lob. 

These indications as to a discovery made by a chief coming 
from the Tsaidame render it probable that the natives of Thibet 
must have become intermixed with the Lobis, though not to any 
great extent, a supposition to a certain extent confirmed by the 
fact that, when we had penetrated into the center of Thibet, we 
heard the natives singing the same melodies as the people of the 
Lob Nor. 

The valley of the Djahan-Sai is characterized by blocks of 
granite which have been scored, perforated, and fashioned by 
nature, and Avhich affect the shape of boughs, bones, shoulder- 
blades, and shafts of columns, the aspect being that of a cemetery, 
the tombs of which have been profaned, and the corpses hacked 
to pieces and scattered to the winds. 

We come upon traces of gazelles and also of donkeys, and we 
are told that ^omQ cliasseurs from the Lob have recently returned 
with the remains of koulanes, a species of horse which roam in 
large troops over the highlands. 

November 20. — In the morning the level of the river had 
risen a little. Its water is still white in color, and Abdullah- 
Ousta is confident that at a week's march southeast there is a 
glacier. 

We encamp at Tchoukour-Sai, and on the way come across 
some ''saxaouls," from which our men at once make some fag- 
ots, being well aware that there is no wood in this district 
which emits more heat. These shrubs still bear their berries, 
but unfortunately they are unfit for food. 

Our camp is in the desert, beyond the Tchoukour-Sai — a deep 
gorge without one drop of water. We shall halt a day here, 
and send our animals to feed on the mountain, near to some 
water, as it is indispensable to undertake the passage of the 
Koum-Davane and the Tach-Davane with beasts which are fresh. 

Novemher 21. — To-day is accordingly devoted to rest, after a 
night during which the temperature was only about five degrees 



THROUGH A CANON. 129" 

below freezing, with, a light breeze from the northwest, while in 
the daytime the thermometer rose to fifty degrees. We spend 
the day in eit'ecting varions repairs and cleaning, everybody 
being in good-hnmor except the Donngane camel-driver, who has 
set np his bivonac a little way from onrs, and is snlking. His 
attendant Maz says that he is in a viler humor than ever, and 
keeps on grumbling and declaring that he has been humbugged. 
Niaz adds that he is like a dog being led along with a string 
round his neck, showing his teeth all the time, and he is, there- 
fore, glad to come to the fire with our men, being always sure 
they will give him a drink of tea. 

Novemher 22. — Three-quarters of an hour from the camp, 
after the first, but not the last, pass of this journey, we descend 
more than 100 yards into a canon, which shapes its way south- 
ward, and comes out at the foot of the Koum-Davane. This 
canon is very picturesque seen from above ; it narrows as one 
gets higher, while immediately below us it is a narrow gorge, in 
which the water has left numerous deposits. From all sides the 
high and steep banks have caused the sand to silt down, and 
there are frequentr lodgments of the alluvium, in the mass of 
which large cavities have been eaten out. 

Advancing in this defile, we reached a narrow gallery paved 
with ice, and crept under the mountain which the water has 
eaten into. It w^ould not require a great efi:'ort of the imagina- 
tion fancy one's self in an enchanted palace. But if the entrance 
to this gallery was easy, it was more difiicult to get out of it. 
We had to climb up steps formed by enormous stones which 
had rolled down from above, and which the camels would not 
get over. But after having examined the route further on, and 
concluded that it was practicable for these awkward animals, we 
determined to clear a passage for them at any cost. With their 
iron pickaxes our men succeeded in two hours' time in making 
the passage feasible; and, having got the camels through, we 
bent a little to the southeast, and encamped beside a stream 
which is not yet frozen over. The water, though a trifie salt, is 



130 



ACROSS THIBET. 



quite drinkable, and we should be very thankful never to taste 
worse. 

In this region there are plenty of traces of wild animals, such 
as wolves, foxes, and gazelles. A troop of line animals with 
cm-ved horns looks down upon us from the crest of the hill as we 

get off our horses, and it is evi- 
dent, from the footprints on the 
banks of the stream, that they are 
coming down to drink. Our ap- 
pearance has brought them to 
a standstill, and when Prince 
Henry fires a shot at them, the 
whole troop scuttles off at a tre- 
mendous pace to the opposite side 
of the gorge. Prince Henry 
goes in pursuit and when night 
sets in he is still absent ; so we go 
off in search of him, for fear of 
some accident having occurred, 
\ and discover him, not far from the 
\ camp, upon a rocky ledge, from 
which he can neither come down 
nor go back. At last, by means 
of ropes, we get him down, and he 
returns to the camp very well satisfied at having made the ac- 
quaintance of the Koukou Yama (Pseudo Ovis, Burhell), but 
disappointed not to have found the one he had wounded. 

Thus it is that we form acquaintance mth the fauna peculiar 
to Thibet. The incident shows how quickly travel binds people 
together, for our men, though they had had a hard day, did not 
need any telling to go in search of Prince Henry, being sincerely 
anxious about him, and ready to start in a moment. 

I thank them, as they sit round the &e, for their energy, and 
it is a good sign that they do not indulge in too many protesta- 
tions, their silence indicating that they have not got any thoughts 




THE DOUNGANE. 



■ft '. yUiii'''iViDiA3M6^l'J . « 




GORGE AT THE FOOT OF THE KOUM-DAVANE. 



WHERE IS THE KIZIL-80U? 133 

to conceal. Seeing, close to our camp, traces of men and donkeys, 
we question AbduUah-Ousta on tlie subject, and lie tells us that 
a month ago a party of fourteen men, including two of his sons, 
went on a shooting expedition in the direction of Bogahk. 
When we ask him if the Kizil-Sou is in that direction, he says 
it is, but that he has never been there. 

It is clear that whenever one speaks of the Kizil-Sou, it is 
impossible to get any information, and I notice that Abdullah- 
Ousta appears to be ill at ease, while the others, who say noth- 
ing, could give us some information, if I am not mistaken. So 
I say : 

" Has no one been to the Kizil-Sou ? Yet it is said that there 
is a great deal of gold to be found there ? Don't you know any- 
one, Abdullah, who has lived in those parts ? " 

" There is not one of us who has been to the Kizil-Sou. But 
I may say that a man of Lob is there at the present moment. 
He left the Lob last year, and we have no news of him." 

" What was his object in going ? " 

" To seek for gold, though he took arms with him for shooting, 
so that he might be able to supply himself with food, the coun- 
try being uninhabited." 

" Is he alone ? " 

" Yes, he has not even a donkey with him. He is a poor man, 
beset by creditors, to whom, not having the means to pay them, 
he gave his only son in pledge, and as his son works for his 
principal creditor, the father, having resolved to procure his son's 
freedom, asked permission to go off on this expedition. He 
made his own powder, got some shot given him, took his pelisse 
and his tools, and set out for the region where gold is found. 
He begged his neighbors to give themselves no further con- 
cern about him, as he did not intend to return until he had 
secured a sum sufficient to pay his debts and make him free 
of creditors for the rest of his life. He Avent oft* at the 
beginning of last year, and w^e have heard nothing of him 
since." 



134 ACROSS THIBET. 

It is difficult to say wlietlier this story, wliicli lias quite a 
Biblical flavor, is true, or whether it has been invented by 
Abdullah-Ousta, in order to show us that he is anxious to keep 
us well informed, for there is no reading the hearts of these 
Orientals. However, we must keep our weather eye open. 



CHAPTER VI. 

STEIKLN^G THE SOUTHEElSr EOUTE. 

Ascent of the Koum-Davane — The Beginning of Mountain Sickness — A Musical Even- 
ing — At Ouzoun-Tchor — Isa's Reformation — A Caravan Sighted — The Plain of 
Tchimen — A Providential Meeting — Bag-Tokai— The Southern Route Discovered 
at Last — flaking for Xamtso — Diplomacy. 

November- 25. — From Boulak BacM — ^tliat is to say, tlie "liead 
of tlie Somx-e " — we made om^ way toward tlie fii'st pass, wMcli 
we have beeu led to expect mtli so miicli apprelieusion. After 
lialf an liom'^s marcli alono^ tlie side of tlie 2:oro'e, we descended 
into tlie dry bed of a torrent, and halted at tlie foot of a sand 
mountain. This is the Koum-Davane, which has to be climbed, 
and as it is devoid of the slightest trace of a path, to us falls the 
doubtful honor of tracino; one as best we can. It is useless to 
thuik of re-ascending the com'se of the torrent with our camels, 
and of folio wins; the donkeys Avhich, after they have been un- 
loaded, are hoisted up the steep path as if they were themselves 
so much bao^o'ao'e. There is nothino- for it but to attack the 
Koum-Davane. Our troop sets to work and endeavors to trace 
some sort of a route for the camels by use of the feet, the pick- 
ax, the spade, etc., care being taken to render the ascent gradual. 
Then the file of camels is set in motion. The sand is extremely 
fine, and does not, on the slope, offer sufiicient resistance for the 
camels to find a place where they can put do^vn vidth safety the 
laig'e hoofs of then- clumsy feet. They keep falling on to their 
knees, and as this is their resting postm'e, they remain quite con- 
tent and bar the passage to those behind. Our men have great 
trouble in getting them up, and in some cases they keep di'agging 
themselves along on their knees till they are flogged on to theii' 
feet. It is a long business to get the camels over, and it is ac- 
companied by a regular orgie of imprecations and cm*ses, the 

135 



136 AGBOSS THIBET. 

word " our," wliicli means " flog," being the most frequent. The 
heavily loaded donkeys and the sheep bring up the I'ear, with 
drooping heads and ears. 

After a repetition of the same incidents, and after having 
crossed two sandy ridges, we redescended by a steep path into 
the same valley which we had quitted in the morning. The 
ascent of the Koum-Davane had taken us eight hours, and al- 
though we had only got a few hundred yards higher than the 
camp of the previous day, our men complained of violent pains 
in the head, accompanied by cold feet. This was the beginning 
of mountain sickness, and old Imatch was the principal sufferer, 
for he was weak on the legs, and as he had to get off his horse 
and walk he was quite exhausted. 

JVovember 24. — We made our encampment not far from the Tach- 
Davane. The nearer we get to the mountain the more deserted 
does it seem. It is quite bare, and in all directions narrow ridges 
emerge out of the dust and sand. Mountain sickness continues 
to prevail, and this is beginning to be so alarming in its propor- 
tions that it will be a relief to have crossed the Tach-Davane, or 
" pass of stones," which, as we are assured, is more difficult than 
the " sand pass." 

November 26. — To-day and yesterday have been devoted to 
the Tach-Davane, and our troop being quite exhausted, several 
of them have been bleeding from the nose, though we have not 
yet reached the altitude of Mont Blanc. The ascent is so steep 
that we have been compelled at times to hoist up the camels, 
and from the bottom men have had to carry the baggage. We 
are encamped in the midst of a narrow stony valley, quite ai'id, 
and without any sign of brushwood. Our provision of ice is 
diminishing, and the animals have not drunk for two days. So 
the new recruits who find themselves in this desolate mountain 
are quite out of heart, and full of gloomy forebodings. The 
Doungane, in particular, is very exasperated, and keeps on say- 
ing, " If the route is not better further on, what is to become of 
us ? And there is very little chance of its improving, for from 



MOUNTAIN SICKNESS. 



137 



"the summit of this accursed spot we can only see in front of us 
mountain piled upon mountain." When little Abdullah goes up 
to the camel-driver and salutes him politely, in the hope of get- 
ting some of the Chinese delicacies, he is greeted with an out- 
burst of insults and curses, the Doungane shaking his fist at him, 
spitting at him, and calling out with 
angry sobs, " Cursed dog, you have de- 
ceived me ; you come to contemplate 
your work. You want to see whether 
I am near to dying. Be off with you ! " 

Little Abdullah makes off at his 
best pace, and I am much disappointed 
at not being able to get any of this 
Chinese paste; for, cut up small, 
cooked in water and with fat, and well 
seasoned with salt and pepper, it makes 
a rather agreeable article of food, in 
default of anything better. 

The night was a particularly bad 
one, for Rachmed, who had been after 
the megalo-partridges, did not return 
till very late, and when the anxiety 
which this had excited was alleviated, the men were kept awake 
for a long time by mountain sickness. We could hear them 
moving about and sitting up to relieve the oppression on the 
chest, while others vomited, and there was a long succession of 
groans and complaints, the pass being treated to plenty of curses 
in Chinese and Turkish. 

Fortunately, Abclullah-Ousta promises them that the next en- 
campment shall be close to a river, with brushwood and even 
a little grass, so that they may regain their strength, with which 
their courage will also return. 

November 27. — We start with a northwest wind, which makes 
the 23 degrees of frost hard to endure, and at night the minimum 
was below zero. More than one of our men has to breathe on to 




A KOUM. 



138 ACROSS THIBET. 

Ms hands while handling the ropes, or even a compass, oi' the 
photographic apparatus. But we begin to descend, and the 
mountain sickness decreases, the men feeling their heads steadier 
on their shoulders, and the singing in their ears being less accen- 
tuated. The difference in altitude of a few hundred yards suffices. 
to restore those who had been amiss, and when we are protected 
from the wind between the sides of the ravine a sensation of 
relief is experienced. 

After five hours' march we arrived by the small pass of the 
Obo (Davine Island) on the banks of the Djahan-Sai, the sides 
of which have a fringe of ice, though in the middle of the stream 
the water flows along rapid, clear, and drinkable. 

We had traversed hillocks of sand and of soil, where the 
camels found it no difficult matter to plant their feet. One might 
imagine that there is in this region a reserve of vegetable soil 
destined to cover the unfertile surfaces of our planet with the 
stratum of the black earth in which food-giving grain does so well. 

The traces of animal life are frequent just here, the large hoof 
of the koulane being seen in many places near the river, as well 
as the forked foot of the arkan, while several koukouimane had 
been by the site of our camp a few minutes before our arrival. 
The camels go along with their eyes fixed on the ground, and 
now and again they inspect the moimtain and its rocks. Abdul- 
lah declares that we are about to come upon abundance of game, 
and when asked about the route, he says that further on the 
stones are not so frequent, and that the ground is nearly every- 
where soft. We take care not to speak to him of the Kizil-Sou 
and the southern route, as we must make it our business to dis- 
cover it for ourselves. 

While the evening meal is being cooked, the saddles and 
clothes are cleaned, and Rachmed makes a ramrod out of the 
branch of a tree. Parpa sews his boots, made of wild camel skin, 
with antelope tendons, which he softens by dipping them in his 
teacup. The horses and camels are allowed to roam about, and 
the dogs snarl and fight over the sheep's entrails. 



THE ALLAH RABOB. 139^ 

A sumptuous feast is being got ready. The rice is washed for 
the palao which will follow the caverdak, this dish, which comes 
hrst, consisting of bits which we fry in the mutton fat. The 
caverdak is not allowed to simmer long in the pot, and it is 
eaten while only half-cooked. Little Abdullah, who has not the 
patience to wait for the palao, obtains, by dint of entreaties, a 
shoulder out of which only part of the bone has been taken, and 
he toasts it before the fire, tearing at it with his teeth and 
lingers, and exclaiming, " Here is a foretaste of Thibet and its 
cuisine." A light is thrown on to the pot by means of the branch 
of a tree which has been rubbed with mutton fat to make it 
answer as a torch. The repast being ready, the Khotanlis join 
om' men, and there is quite a family party round the boxes which 
keep off the northwest wind. No one fails to do justice to the 
banquet, and Rachmed sarcastically observes that we shall not 
run short of warriors to fight battles of this kind. The fire lights 
up the tanned countenances and white teeth of the men as they 
dip theii' hands into the bowls and scoop up pieces of rice, which 
they jerk into their mouths. They eat till they are full, and the 
fragments, which are very considerable, are taken to the Lobis 
by the youngest, the arrival of the cooking pot, still half full, 
bringing a smile of contentment to the faces of these savages. 
We all appreciate the agreeable character of this evening, which 
obliterates the recollection of the fatigues and disappointments 
of the previous days. We even have some music, Tokta having 
brought with him his instrument — his AUah-Rabob, as he calls 
it. This is because the rabob, having only three strings, cannot 
be compared to the great rabob of India, and only serves to 
play simple pieces, such as invocations to Allah, whence the 
'^ AUah-Rabob." The Doungane, whom the prospect of water- 
ing his camels has made amiable, keeps open house, and offers 
his Chinese dough all round. Although the men have barely 
finished a copious repast, some of them accept the offer, and seem 
none the worse for this second meal when they return to the 
camp fire and go off to sleep. Most of them sleep without un- 



140 



ACROSS THIBET. 



dressing, merely lifting their arms out of the wide sleeves of 
their pelisse. The Lobis undress and sleep quite naked, curled 
up among their clothes, wherein they double themselves up, after 
having first warmed them in front of the fire to dry them and to 
drive away the vermin. They do not shelter themselves from 




IN THE CAMP AT OUZOUN-TCHOR. 



tne wind behind their bundles, but behind the fires, so that the 
wind blows the heat of the flame on to them. This is the best 
plan when in the open air. 

December 3. — We have reached Ouzoun-Tchor (the great salt 
pit) by way of Pachalik, Kara Chote, and Mandalik. These 
names do not signify that we met any habitations or human 
beings, for we have passed through an undulating desert, with a 
northwest wind blowing up a great deal of dust. We have 
followed pretty closely the route taking by Carey, but mthout 
finding any ^vater at the points where he, in the month of May, 



AT OUZOUN-TGHOR. 141 

Lad seen rivulets running, wliereas we have liacl to carry bags of 
ice with us. We intend to lialt near the great salt-pit, for we 
want some salt. Yesterday we had a sti'ong hurricane from the 
northwest, with twenty-seven degrees of frost. The minimum 
of the night was sixteen degrees below zero ; so that there can 
be no mistake about winter being upon us. In the morning the 
wind falls, and the sun comes out in full splendor, the tempera- 
ture rising to fifty-nine degrees, though in the shade it is four 
degrees below zero. (Time, 9 a. m.) 

While the men were off to shoot, I went to see what I could 
discover, with my eyes never off the ground. To the south of 
our camp rises a very bare, deeply scored, and crumbling moun- 
tain, the slopes of which slip aAvay as the foot, sinking into the 
sand, rests upon the surface, breaking away like sugar. This 
mountain is shedding its sand into the plain and gradually 
driving back the vegetation, while in the large basin to the east 
spreads the vast yellowish-green surface of the Ouzoun-Tchor, 
marbled with streaks of salt. In the more remote distance, be- 
tween the east and the south, a small lake glitters, I'eflecting the 
hills which overshadow it, and close to its shores are some kou- 
lanes browsing, though they soon make off in great alarm. 
Beyond the basin in which the salt-pit is situated a steppe rises 
gradually toward other mountains, the summits of which are 
hidden in the mist. This chain diminishes in altitude north- 
ward, and seems to be connected with other jagged mountains 
which close the horizon to the west. 

On getting back to the camp, I found that Prince Henry had 
killed a fine male koulane, this being his first, and that. two men 
had gone off to cut up the beast and bring back his skin, with a 
little of the flesh. 

We ascertained that the night minimum was twenty degrees 
below zero, but the northwest breeze was, fortunately, very slight. 
We had to wait until the sun had warmed our men, and had 
melted the frozen ropes, before we could prepare for a start. 
While we were drinking our tea, Timour made an exclamation, 



142 ACROSS THIBET. 

and when I oroiiglit my glass to bear in the direction of the 
brushwood where I was the day previously, I could clearly dis- 
tinguish two or three donkeys and some men armed with guns. 
All at once they disappeared, and then, as a thin column of 
smoke curled up into the air, we saw that they were halting to 
cook their food. 

We at once sent Abdullah, who supposed that they are Lobis, 
to talk with them, but we let Rachmed follow at once after him, 
so that he might not set the newcomers against us, and prevent 
us from obtaining information. Soon afterward four men came 
to our camp, the two oldest offering as presents three foxes' skins 
and one wolf skin. They were somewhat intimidated by our 
presence, though our men crowded round them and pressed their 
hands, inviting them to come near the fire. But they did not 
venture to cross their legs, and were evidently very ill at 
ease. 

These men are regular savages ; their clothing, which is of 
frieze or sheepskin, being all in tatters, their faces sunken and 
their bodies wasted by privations and long marches, while their 
hands looked like veritable claws. They are small and thick-set, 
with the physiognomy of Turco-Mongolians, and they might be 
taken for Turkomans, with their long noses and thick nostrils, 
their prominent cheek-bones, and small brown eyes. 

We treat them hospitably, and give them cooked meat, tea, 
bread, and sugar. They put away the meat, drink the tea, and 
scarcely touch the sugar, after they have just licked it. But they 
break the bread with great care, and eat it solemnly, as if it was 
food which would do honor to their bodies. Gradually their 
figures expand, and they seem to be very well satisfied. One of 
them, whom we have christened '^ the Tzigane," on account of his 
bushy black beard, leans over to his neighbor and mumbles a 
word with a smile. They exchange a look which can only be 
interpreted into surprise at being so kindly treated. Whether 
they think well of us for our reception of them, or are inclined 
to despise us for our weakness, it is impossible to say ; for in the 



ISA'S REFORMATION'. 143 

desert men are not disposed to be very tender to one another, 
and first communications are I'arely of a friendly character. 

Tliese savages are, perhaps, stupefied at the good-nature of the 
strangers, who, being better armed and stronger than themselves, 
treat them kindly, offer them a good price for their skins, and 
promise them some food for their journey to the Lob Nor, when it 
would have been so easy to despoil them. So we take advantage 
of their being well disposed to question them. 

" Have you seen the son of your friend Abdullah-Ousta ? " 
we ask. 

" Yes," replies one ; '' he has not found much gold, but he is 
shooting. He is in good health." 

" Have you seen any traces of wild camels ? " 

" No, though we know that they roam at times through this 
region." 

" Do you know the roads ? " 

" Abdullah knows them better than we do ; he is a gray- 
beard." 

" You have not seen any Kalmucks ? " 

" No, not one. They live beyond the Tchimen-Tagh, which is 
the frontier we have mutually agreed upon. We do not go be- 
yond it on our shooting expeditions." 

It is impossible to extract any further information from them, 
and we begin to think that they have nothing to keep back, and 
so we thank them, and our men give them many commissions for 
Tcharkalik. Tokta sends a message to his little boy, and Timour 
to his wife, whom he exhorts to be patient and not to desert his 
home. Isa, who sends a message to the son of his master, the 
Aksakal, has the bad habit of smoking hasheesh, and Rachmed 
had accordingly nicknamed him Bangi (which means smoker of 
hasheesh). This annoyed him so much that he came to com- 
plain to me, but I reasoned with him and got him to see that he 
deserved the appellation. So I advised him not to smoke any 
more, and then he would be treated as a good Mussulman, and I 
would make him a present. One fine morning he had broken 



144 ACROSS THIBET. 

his liaslieesli pipe, and as lie had a little " bang " left in his bag^ 
he availed himself of the visit of these men to send it to his 
friends, Avith the following message : '' You will do well not to 
smoke any more 'bang,' but, if you do, smoke this which Isa 
sends you, and pray to Allah that our journey may be success- 
ful." 

Thereupon the men went off, and after Rachmed had regretted 
not giving them a bigger piece of sugar, the tents were quickly 
struck, and in an hour and a quarter' we reached the extremity 
of the Ouzoun-Tchor, which is not frozen over, and on the banks 
of which is a thick layer of salt. We wound round the end of 
the lake, following a rather narrow slope near the mountain, lead- 
ing to a defile which is called the " neck of the Ouzoun-Tchor " 
(" ouzoun chornin boini "). Here we came upon traces of camels, 
but whether wild or domesticated it is impossible to say. As 
we were riding quickly on, exclamations arose : " Look, there are 
camels ! " " No ! yaks, I tell you." And, sure enough, about 
five miles to the east was a caravan with animals bearing loads 
and accompanied by horsemen. We concluded from the steady 
and regular march that this was a caravan of camels, and at 
once ordered Abdullah and Akkan, our Chinaman, to over, 
take the travelers, whom we presumed to be pilgrims in the 
suite of the Khan of the Torgoutes, who had recently gone 
through the Lob Nor. As they were trying to catch up the 
pilgrims we entered the defile of the Ouzoun-Tchor, which nar- 
rows as one gets higher up. The caravan had just been through 
it, and the footprints left by their camels prove that camels can 
go a long way. We also found traces of the Lobi chasseurs, and 
the examination of the soil caused us to lose a little time and 
enabled our Lobis to get ahead of us. They had not followed 
the route of the pilgrims, whose traces were along a very easy 
path, through the hills to the right of the defile. 

Our inclination was first of all to make the advance guard turn 
back and to take this new route. But Abdullah-Ousta dissuaded 
us, declaring that the route was very bad. We did not believe 



PLAIN OF TGIIIMEN. 145 

liim, but followed his advice, pending the return of the two men 
we had sent on ahead, knowing that it would not be difficult for 
us to find the road ag-ain. 

The defile terminates in a pass, from which we descend by a 
plateau called Tchimen, this being the beginning of the chain 
of that name, of which we catch a glimpse to the south in the 
mist. We trotted along an excellent road over a bare sandy 
table-land, then descended toward the plain of Tchimen along 
some spurs of hills. Suddenly two men, mounted on camels, 
appeared from behind a ridge Just within range of our glasses. 
They were evidently frightened at the sight of us, for they set 
off at a slow trot, which is a dangerous pace for beasts on high 
ground. Our idea was that these travelers were rejoining the 
caravan which we had seen, and Dedeken, who speaks a little 
Mongolian, set out in pursuit at full speed. He caught them 
up, and questioned them, and returned quickly to tell us what 
he had gathered. They were two Torgoutes, belonging, as 
we thought, to the caravan, on their way back from Thibet, 
where they had been to worship the lama at Lhassa. As they 
were short of meat, they had gone oif in search of game, and had 
killed a yak, which they then cut up, carrying off the best pieces 
for their comrades — and it was these quarters of meat which we 
had seen swaying as they hung from their saddle-bows. They 
had asked Dedeken where we were going, and he had prudently 
replied that our intention was to go hunting eastward, in the 
direction of Se-tchouen. These various meetings supplied food 
for thought, and gave us the hope that we had hit, if not our 
ideal road to the south, at all events a good one, for here were 
pilgrims who had followed it on camels — camels, too, which 
were still capable of trotting. Farther on there must be in- 
habitants, for these hunters told Dedeken that within half a 
day's march lived some Kalmucks. 

These uplands form a glorious picture, but at the bottom of 
the pass, on the right, Timour points out to us three stones 
supporting a pole which is planted on the spot where lies the 



146 ACROSS THIBET. 

body of one who, when out hunting, had died on the road. A 
barely perceptible path to the lowly tomb has been made by the 
feet of the few Mussulmans who go there to pray for one of their 
comrades. 

F]'om the eastward direction which Abdullah-Ousta makes us 
follow, it is evident that he means to take us to Tchong-iar, and 
thence to Tsaidame. To-morrow we will modify our line of 
route. 

We camp on a sort of terrace in the midst of some scrub and 
brushwood, and the nights bf^ing dark, and our camels not hav- 
ing arrived, we set fire to a thicket, and the Hames bursting forth 
show om' whereabouts as a lighthouse does the harbor. Abdul- 
lah and our Chinaman, the last to arrive, told us that they had 
counted twenty-one camels carrying chests protected by skins. 
They recognized these camels as belonging to the Kalmuck race ; 
and they had evidently, too, come a considerable distance, for 
they were lean, and tlfeir harness much worn, while the covering 
of their loads bore signs of bad weather. Their feet, however, 
were neither cracked nor barked excessively, so it was plain that 
the road had not been a stony one. The only rider in the cara- 
van was a veiled man, a lama with a gray mustache, who deigned 
to speak to them from the back of his camel, though unwilling 
to give them any information. He assured them that he was 
coming back from the Tsaidame, from a place called Timourlik, 
and was on his way to Abdullah. He w^ould not acknowledge 
that he was from Thibet, but asked them this question point- 
blank : " Ai-e you in the service of the Kussians ? " 

" No," they answered. 

" We know that some Russians are anxious to j)enetrate as far 
as Lhassa, but they have not received permission to do so. If 
you are these Russians, don't forget that." 

" We are in the service of some Frenchmen wlSf have not the 
least desire to enter Thibet." 

" What have they come here to do ? " 

" Hunt." 



PT"' — ^ 



wmmmn 









b- 



tir 




DEFILE OF THE OUZOUN-TCHOE. 



A PROVIDENTIAL MEETING. 149 

At this reply tlie lama lowered his veil and said not another 
word. His servants gave out that he was " a living Buddha." 

We summoned the huntei's of Lob and Tcharkalik, and 
asked whether they know the road which this caravan has 
followed. After much pressure, we wrung an avowal from old 
AbduUah-Ousta. " Twenty-five years ago," he said, " I heard 
that some Kalmucks had returned from Thibet by a more direct 
and easier road than that from the Tsaidame. That's all I 
know." 

Thereupon the old hunter asked permission for himself and 
his men to leave us. " The cold," he says, '' is becoming more 
and more unendurable daily, oui' homes are farther off, and pro- 
visions diminishing." I promised an answer next morning, but 
this very night Rachmed informed him that we would let them 
go as soon as we had recovered the track of the caravan, and 
that they should be richly rewarded, for we w^ere very well satis- 
fied with them. We thus secured their assistance in hitting upon 
the right track. 

They replied that they were happy to have met us, and their 
old chief swore that all would serve us faithfully to their last 
breath. Up to a late hour they kept up a whispered conversa- 
tion round their fires. In spite of all their loud protestations I 
knew they would desert us at the very first opportunity, but we 
could very well do without them. 

Decemher 4. — A white-letter day in our travels. What a 
marvelous coincidence ! Just at the decisive moment, just at 
the spot where the road separates, we providentially meet some 
pilgrims on their way back from Lhassa. It is too fortunate ! 
and we must make the best of so valuable a piece of information. 
To-morrow we will again track the two yak hunters, and see 
where their traces lead. 

Decemher 5. — We set out in a southeasterly direction, leaving 
the Tsaidame on our left. Toward the east the vast plain, 
^^Tapped in what looks like smoke, attracts our attention. At 
first we imagine there must be an encampment there, but this 



150 ACROSS THIBET. 

vapor unfolds in spkals just as the smoke does from the engine 
of a train, and we conclude that a herd of wild beasts is galloj)- 
ing over the soft ground. We are in a kind of dusty plain ; 
after walking for five hours we enter a river bed where a torrent 
has brought down some roots and branches, which we carefully 
collect. They will serve to melt the ice which we have brought 
with us, for since the 20th of November we have had no water 
and have no idea when we shall get any ; we are short, too, of 
grass. 

December 6. — We set out toward the southwest, eager to 
arrive at the foot of the hills toward which lead the tracks of 
the pilgrim hunters, and we ask Abdullah-Ousta if he knows the 
next encampment. He says that he knows it by hearsay, and 
that it is good, calling it Bag-Tokai, which means the " garden 
of brushwood." 

When we approach Bag-Tokai, we find that the name of 
" garden " is not too grand a one. We are near a fresh- water 
river, as we gather from some bits of ice that sparkle in the dry 
bed of one of its afiluents. The stream, on reaching the low 
grounds of the plain, has left behind it some large pools, frozen 
of course, and formed an endless number of arms ; at the edge 
of the channel we can see the water running. The Kalmucks 
have camped here, and we soon see the prints of their camels on 
the ridges which they have scaled so as to avoid the ice on the 
river, while in the brushwood, which here forms a thick planta- 
tion, we easily recognize the spot where they lit their fires. 
Besides these very recent traces, there are others much older, 
which Abdullah-Ousta says are those of the Khan of the Kal- 
mucks, who went to Lhassa by this road before the frost had set 
in, for the feet of the laden camels had sunk deeply into the soft 
ground, and then the frost preserved intact the traces of the first 
passage of the caravan. 

At night we hold a council of war, questioning our hunters 
and our friends, and insisting that they undoubtedly knew the 
place already. Old Abdullah denies that he has ever set foot 



TEE SOUTHERN ROUTE DISCOVERED. 151 

at Bag-Tokai ; but, cbiven to extremities, and as the result, per- 
haps, of a talk with Timour, he tells us that the latter can give 
us some information, since he knows much more about it. The 
old hunter is unwilling to unsay his words, for fear he should be 
punished for his untruthfulness, though he owns to it, and, to 
pacify us, has charged Timour to tell us about the place. So 
the latter begins : " Parpa can tell you, as well as I can, that 
we are now on the road to the pass of Amban-Achkan, for he 
has been here with two Europeans.* I believe that there is, 
beyond that pass, a road into Thibet. This is how I discovered 
it just eleven years ago exactly." (Rachmed pours Timour out 
a cup of tea, and hands him a liuup of sugar.) " It was the year 
that Badoulet (Yakoob-Beg) was poisoned by those cursed 
Chinamen. I was hereabouts Avith some bold companions, on 
our way to Bogalik to seek for gold, when we came across a 
caravan returning fi'om Lhassa, consisting of Kalmucks who 
were accompanying the mother of the present khan. They had 
camels and ^^aks. After following their road back as far as 
Amban-Achkan Davane, we saw with our own eyes that their 
tracks led southward. That is ho^v we found out this ronte 
which the Kalmucks keep secret, for they only speak of that of 
the Tsaidame." 

I have no idea of reproaching Timour, for I am too pleased. 

" Does this road go to the south, once you have crossed the 
Amban-Achkan Davane ? Answer frankly, Timour." 

" Yes, it does ; straight to the south. At least, the tracks dis- 
appeared in that direction." 

Decidedly we have hit the southern route so long sought for. 
The only thing now is not to lose it. 

Our original idea was to go to Tonquin via Ba-Tang, crossing 
the Tsaidame, if we could strike the road which, we have been told, 
starts from Kizil-Sou. And now circumstances have dispensed 
with the need of our seeking the Kizil-Sou route. A caravan has 
gone and returned by the same road, and we will follow its 
track, and with due attention have every chance of I'ecovering 

* Carey and Dalgleisli. 



152 ACEOSS THIBET. 

tlie trail, wliicli must open out near Lhassa, toward wliicli we 
will proceed as far as we can. Our beasts of burden are in good 
condition ; we have provisions for four or five months more, plenty 
of ammunition, and men in good health, so that there is very 
little imprudence in making the venture. If circumstances only 
prove favorable, we have every chance of success, and why 
should we not go on with what we have so well begun ? Such 
are the ideas that flit quickly through my mind, and prompt me 
to inform my comrades that we are going to spur due south so 
as to arrive straight at Namtso, at the " heavenly lake," near 
Lhassa. We shall certainly make some interesting discoveries, 
and once there, can think of Ba-Tang and Tonquin. 

My companion, Prince Henry of Orleans, knew or guessed 
that for some time I had been thinking of Thibet. Though we 
had never said anything precise on the subject, I felt that we 
should have no trouble about agreeing, and when I now tell him 
my thoughts, he becomes enthusiastic, and replies, " You will see 
we shall succeed, I am sure of it, and let us set out at once. 
You can rely upon me. What a grand idea ! I was certain you 
meant going to Thibet." Then I turned to Father Dedeken, who 
was coming up with his rifle over his shoulder. I had never 
mentioned to him the projects which I had in my mind, and he 
was now very surprised to hear them, for we shall not approach 
the direction in which he at first thought we were going, so he 
raised certain objections : " We have no papers. What shall we 
do ? How are we to get out of the hands of the people of Thibet, 
Avho act under the direction of the Chinese ? " 

'' Once there we shall see what to do," I replied. " But we 
are not yet in their hands." 

After a moment's reflection he said, " I will go where you like, 
at once." 

I called Rachmed, who came to our tent in which we were all 
three having our tea, and having knelt doAvn, as is his wont, near 
the entrance, asked the news. 

" We are going southward," said I. ^' We shall follow the 



DIPLOMACY. 153 

traces of tlie Kalmucks as long as tliey are distinguishable, and 
if we lose them through our own fault, we will each wear, for 
the rest of our life, a fool's cap. Don't you agree with me, and 
what do you think of my idea ? " 

" Master," he replied, " you are never happy unless you are 
seeking fresh roads. Though it was of China that you spoke to me 
before we set out, I knew it was of Thibet that you were thinking. 
Now, all we have to do is to keep our eyes well open, and spare 
our animals. We shall get out of the difficulty all right." 

We next took into our confidence little Abdullah, who was by 
no means cheered by the news, though he does not dare to make 
any objection. As to the brave Toundja, also surnamed Akkan, 
Dedeken's Chinaman, he maliciously remarked that he was 
well acquainted with the cardinal points, and that we were not 
marching toward Ouroumtachi, nor yet toward Sinin-Fou, as 
we had promised him at first, but he would follow his 
master. 

I thereupon urged our three faithful followers not to noise our 
■conversation abroad, and to try and persuade the four Dounganes 
and the men of Tcharkalik that we meant to go hunting toward 
the south, with the firm intention, once the hunt is over, of mak- 
ing om- way eastward, that is to say, in the direction of Bogalik, 
the gold district. 

Before we retire for the night, Abdullah-Ousta's men come to 
inform us that they cannot go any further, that twice already 
they wanted to return, but we had prevented them from doing so. 
Now they really wish to leave us, for they are unacquainted mth 
the road to the Amban-Achkan Davane. We reply that Parpa, 
the man who had been with Carey and Dalgleish, and Timour, 
the goldseeker, will serve us as guides, and that they themselves 
are perfectly capable of retracing their own steps. Then we 
promise them a handsome reward if they will consent to trans- 
port our baggage as far as the other end of the pass, while, at 
the same time, we guarantee them payment of a very different 
kind in case of their refusal. They consent accordingly to accom- 



154 



ACROSS THIBET. 



pany us so far, on my promising faitlifully not to drag tliem on 
any further. 

As to tlie Doungane camel-driver, lie is far from being pleased 
to learn tliat we are not going to make for tlie Tsaidame, while 
his servant, honest Maz, comes to our men's tent in a disconsolate 
mood, complaining bitterly of his master, and exclaiming : " What 




AT BAG-TOKAI. 



a wicked, wicked man ! For the last fortnight he has been just 
bearable, but since yesterday evening his bad temper has again 
shown itself. He is constantly swearing at me, covei'ing me with 
insults, while he reproaches me for the bread I eat. This morn- 
ing he loaded his own ass, but so badly that to-night the animal 
has a sore on its back, and then he goes on at me for it, as if I 
had not enough to do in looking after his camels ! And all be- 
cause we are going southward, as if it were my fault." And 
Maz sighed. " Ah ! " he went on ; " he says that he wants to be 
off, to return to Tcharkalik and abandon his camels. Allah grant 



THE DOITGANE NONPLUSED. 155 

that lie may ! I Avill gladly stop with you, and I won't even 
claim the wages Avhich he promised me, though he has never 
paid me more than a quarter of them," 

Niaz begged Dedeken and Abdullah to go to the ill-tempered 
Doungane, who invited them to partake of a little dough, evi- 
dently Avith the intention of questioning them. Niaz followed 
them as they went, but very slowly, and muttering to himself, 
" Is it my fault that we are going south ? " 

Dedeken soon returned, and amused us by the account of his 
interview with the Doungane. He had received them with un- 
heard-of politeness, had offered them cakes, obsequiously handed 
them chopsticks, and with every appearance of the keenest in- 
terest had asked after their health. Then when they had 
"licked the platter clean," he asked them, "Where are we going 
now ? " 

" AVe don't knoAv," replied Dedeken. 

" Ah ! ah ! " growled the Doungane in his boots. " Ah ! ah ! 
I really cannot understand your answer in the very least. How 
can I believe that ' great men,' men who are learned, knoAV hoAV 
to read, Avrite, consult books, examine stars, have no idea Avhere 
they are going ? Ah ! ah ! Who could make anything out of 
what you say ? Is it true that you do not know where we are 
o'oino; ? " 

" We know nothing about it." 

" The neAv year is approaching. Shall we be in any decent 
place so as to keep it properly ? " 

"Doubtless," interrupted the candid Niaz, who had failed to 
grasp his master's idea ; " we shall doubtless be at some spot, for 
are Ave not ahvays someAvhere ? " 

When Dedeken and Abdullah had gone, the Doungane in- 
vited our Chinaman to his table, and reneAved his questions — 
" AVhere are Ave going ? " he asked. 

" Toward Europe," replied Akkan, AA^ho has no love for him. 
" Don't you see that Ave are making straight for it ? " 

The Doungane, unable to solve the riddle, sobbed bitterly. 



156 . ACROSS THIBET. 

" They have nonplused us completely," he said ; " all that re- 
mains for me to do is to pray to Allah to spare my life. What 
are they going to do southward ? What astonishing ideas these 
Europeans have ! " To give vent to his wrath, he abuses Maz : 
■'' Idiot, cur ! you don't even know how to saddle a donkey. You 
don't deserve to eat my meal. What did you put that cup here 
for ? And what is that cord doing there ? And those saddles, 
who put them aAvay ?...." 

And Niaz, as soon as he can, makes his escape to our men, re- 
peating, " T am lost. There is his old temper coming out again." 



CHAPTEE YII. 

A DEATH IN THE CARAVAN. 

At Mula Kourghane — More Mountain Sickness — A Chinaman's Logic — Crossing the 
Amban-Achkan Davane — The Lakewhicli does not Freeze — A Parting : " Forward 
to the Higlilands " — The Caravan on Ice — Inquisitive Koulanes — Orongo Antelopes : 
their Strength and Courage — Camp de la Misericorde — Niaz Sick Unto Death — Ti- 
mour Missing— His Return — Remedy for Mountain Sickness — Rachmed Lost and 
Found — Naming a Volcano — Chinese Heartlessuess — Death and Burial of Niaz — 
Another Volcano Named — A Hurricane — Keeping the New Year. 

Decemher 7. — To-day, without encouutering any diificulty, we 
•crossed the frozen pools formed by tlie river, wliicli appears to 
descend from the southeast ; then we traversed a dusty plain as 
far as Balgoun Louk, where we encamped in the brush. The 
stage was a short one, about seven miles, and Ave take advantage 
of a tine day to make ready a koulane skin, and to repair all the 
objects which stand in need of mending. We have ice within 
reach, and as we are^ told that there is no brushwood further on, 
we prepare a palao for the last time, and several fires are lighted. 
In future, our only fuel will be the droppings of the yaks. 

December 8.— We have come through the desert to Mula 
Kourghane, which is the name of a ferry over the river. Beyond 
this ferry the mountains open out a little ; and to the southeast 
is visible a group composed of two peaks connected by a ridge, 
hollow in the center, whence the name of Mula Kourghane, which 
our men translate by " the camel's abandoned saddle." Before 
the evening mist closes in the horizon, we could see to the south 
the depression in the chain of mountains which, as we are told, 
indicates the road to Amban-Achkan Davane. 

From the top of the hill which I have climbed, partly for the 
view, partly in pursuit of some small hares which have an excel- 
lent flavor, I can see our caravan on its way. Presently it takes 
shelter from the northwest wind in a sort of ravine. The beasts 

157 



158 ACROSS THIBET. 

are unloaded, and tlie bales laid out in a trice, while the camels, 
the horses, and the donkeys go off in quest of a mouthful of 
grass. The sheep are sent away in the care of a watchman, for 
fear of the wolves, 

December 9. — We encamp upon the northern slope of the pass, 
w^hich we reached by an easy ascent, though much incommoded 
by a southwesterly wind. 

Not far from our camp is a path going west, which is said to 
be that of the gold-seekers, and we are told that it would not 
take more than ten or twelve days to reach Tcherchene, and 
that, about half-way, there is a branch road toward Kia. This 
route is well known by the Khotanlis ; and Timour, who has 
been along it before, says that it is a good one, passing up and 
down hills the soil of which is soft to the tread. Timour, who 
admits that he once spent several days beyond the pass, but with- 
out penetrating into the mountains of the south, adds : " This 
route is often used, as in the land of Khotan the custom is to 
pay the tax in gold ; the Chinese confer upon the mountaineers 
of the extreme frontier the privilege of working the gold mines, 
which they know exist in the neighborhood of Bogalik, but 
they exact a tribute, payable in gold dust or nuggets. This is 
paid either once a month or once a year, and that is why the 
peoples of the districts of Kia and Tcherchene are in the habit 
of going in search of gold." 

Traces of Kalmucks are clearly visible in a ravine, but they 
can scarcely be detected upon the frozen ground, and it is nec- 
essary to keep our eyes Avide open if we are not to lose their 
track. We notice that in several cases their caravans have been 
broken up into sections, but for what reason we can-not discover. 

We have plenty to shoot at to-day, there being enough game 
to provide sport for a whole army of sportsmen. First of all, on 
the slope of the mountain, there is a large herd of arkars, brows- 
ing under the watchful eye of some magnificent male animals of 
that species. Then there are some kou lanes, with their quiet, 
not to say stupid look, Avhile partridges are calling to one another 



AT MULA KOURGHANE. 



159 



in the gorges ; and hares, sitting behind stones, leap off alarmed 
by our dogs, or sit in their forms and let themselves be killed. 
They trust to the color of their fur, which confounds itself with 
that of the soil ; or, perhaps it should rather be said, they are 




ENCAMPING AT MULA KOURGHANE. 



accustomed to immunity from the men who visit these parts, and 
their acquaintance with Europeans is made by means of powder 
and shot. The koulanes are wilder, and as to the arkars, they 
make off at once. 

But if the sportsman has reasons for rejoicing, he has also 
cause for annoyance, as the altitude reminds him at each step 
that he is mortal, that it is idle to hurry, this being the exclusive 
privilege of the game he seeks to kill. He can only succeed by 
ruse, for he must glide along, stop, and take breath. The least 
hurry accelerates the action of his heart, and when he puts his 



160 ACBOSS THIBET. 

guu up he finds it impossible to take straight aim. We have 
not yet seen any wild yaks, and when we are told that three or 
four of these animals are quietly feeding not far from the camp, 
the sporting members of our party hurry off, the expedition 
terminating in a roar of laughter when it is found that these are 
tame yaks, with rings through their noses, which the Kalmucks 
have left behind. They had encamped upon a terrace above the 
spot where we are, and from the number of fires and the heaps 
of droppings, we conclude that the caravan we met could only 
have been a fraction of a large band of pilgrims. 

Mountain sickness is still prevalent, and several of our men 
complain of it. This recrudescence of headache and singing of 
the ears may be attributed to the southwest wind, which has 
been blowing during the day. Nothing is more fatiguing than 
the wind in one's face, when one has to open the mouth in climb- 
in o; the hills. 

Old Abdullah has killed a splendid koulane with one bullet 
from his little gun, and has brought back the skin and several 
pieces of flesh. But he is tired and has pains in his head, to 
relieve which he makes an incision in the middle of the forehead, 
just at the roots of the hair, and his companion bleeds him with 
the point of a knife. He does the same by his companion, and 
both of them declare that they are all the better for it. This is 
the remedy which the Lob shooting and hunting men employ 
against mountain sickness. A few days ago, Abdullah had a 
pain in the palm of the hand, and he cured this by rubbing it 
with the eye of a sheep mixed with fat, and by binding it up in 
this as a plaster during two or three days. Several of our men 
have had carbuncles, caused by the action of the cold upon sores 
made in handling the ropes, one curing himself by a plaster made 
out of the skin of a centipede. Portions of animals' bodies are 
often used in this region as remedies, and this is not astonishing, 
seeing that simples are scarce and that animals abound. 

While on this subject, let me give an instance of what logic 
can effect in the narrow brain of a Chinaman. At Tcharkalik, 



A CHINAMAN'S LOGIC. 161 

Akkan, the servant of Father Decleken, fell ill on the very day 
that he had donned for the first time a fine cap made of fox-skin, 
and to measnre. He had been seized with violent pains in the 
head, and an " inflammation of the lymphatic, subcutaneous 
glands of the neck " had been set up. He had not remarked that 
on the day he had donned this headdress, of which he was 
at first very proud, a severe tempest had burst over us, coming 
from the Lob Nor, and that he had caught cold. Starting with the 
assumption that his cap, which had kept him warm, had made 
him ill, he had concluded that the cold would do him good, and 
so he traveled, in the worst of weather, with nothing but a thin 
cap on his head. The result, as may be supposed, was that the 
mischief increased, and that the infiammation soon spread to the 
cheek and the ear. As soon as I saw^ what was the matter, I 
advised him to wrap up his head, and finding that he did not do 
so — the obstinacy and pride of a Chinaman being immeasurable — 
I told him that he would get a good flogging if he did not take 
proper care of himself, and handed him over to the care of Rachmed. 
The latter pushed the fur cap well over his ears, and applied to 
the swollen face a plaster composed of pieces of mutton fat fried 
in the pan and covered with some chopped onion, w^hich had also 
been put into the pan. In five or six days the swelling went 
down, the Chinaman began to eat, his headache disappeared, and 
he soon got well despite the fatigues of the march and the cold 
and wind. His confidence in Rachmed was, for the future, 
unlimited. 

December 11. — The passage of the Amban-Achkan Davane 
was effected without much difiiculty. The ascent is not so very 
steep, the point at which it terminates being marked by an obo. 
Hares and partiidges abound, but there is no sign of big game. 
From time to time we perceive ice in the gorges, and thin lines of 
salt run down the sides where before the water trickled. 

Beyond the obo, the eye ranges over a vast open space shut 
in by mountains which are lost in the mist. The descent is easy, 
and the effect of a mirage causes us to see in the plain at our feet. 



162 ACROSS THIBET. 

islands witli tlie outline of stalactites. After some time we can 
distinguish fragments of ice and mirrors of salt, which have pi'o- 
duced this illusion, and on making a bend, we see in the southwest 
a lake, which glitters so that one cannot tell whether its surface is 
ice or water. Prjevalsky named it the " lake Avhich does not 
freeze." The southern slope of the pass is the more picturesque 
of the two, the northern one having the uniformity of the steppe, 
whereas here the mountain is lacerated by torrents, which have 
eaten out ravines, accumulated large stones, and so formed deltas 
and enlarged the route we are following. The chain of mountains 
winds along in the same direction as the valley, its ridges bristling 
with ragged rocks, and its sides streaked with dark furrows, the 
blocks of porphyry contrasting ^^dth the dark background of sand- 
stone. 

Down in the bottom, our path lies over a long stretch of land, 
and we forget the landscape for a moment in our search for traces 
of the Mongolians, which the wind and the storms have effaced. 
None the less, we lift up our eyes to look at the strange shapes of 
the mountain where it trends do^^ni to the plain, the crumbling 
sandstone shaping out into figures of animated beings and 
monsters of Chinese art, with gaping, grinning mouths. 

We pitch our camp on the banks of a river, and right on the 
track of the Mongolians, which we had rediscovered on the plain 
of salt. There is very little grass, and a complete absence of 
brushwood, with wind blowing off the lake, so we should be 
better off elsewhere. But the traces of the Mongolians are very 
distinct, extending straight to the south, and this is all we 
think of. 

Before emerging from the pass, Timour points out to us the 
path of Bogalik, leading straight eastward. 

When we turn in, there is a bitterly cold wind from the west. 

Decemher 12. — The wind is still blowing, the minimum tem- 
perature of the night having been 18° below zero. Our people 
appear to be rather sleepy and not in the best of spirits. The 
men are crouching and bent back upon themselves, wrapped up 



DISCONTENT. 163 

in tlieir slieepskins and witli tlieir backs set against tlie wind. I 
have to sliake tliem up a bit or they would fall into a state of 
lethargy, and their attitudes tell me that they have had pretty 
well enough of it. The Lobis alone are at all active, and they 
are getting ready to return. The others are pensive, and are evi- 
dently saying to one another that this is bad sort of weather for 
penetrating without guides into the mountains. The Doungane, 
while mumbling prayers, calculates that he would be much better 
off at Kourla, and curses in his breast the Europeans ^vho act 
like madmen and not with the good sense of the Chinese. Little 
Abdullah, it is clear, would much prefer being seated before the 
fire at Djarkent amusing himself by cracking pistachio nuts 
on a stone. Parpa has a gloomy look, and Timour and Isa, 
our two best men, are thoughtful and undecided. Rachmed, old 
Imatch, and the obstinate Akkan, are the only ones who wear 
their eveiyday look. The others avoid looking me straight in 
the face ; and even the Lobis are ill at ease, for they are afraid 
that we shall not keep our promise and let them go after we 
have got over the pass. 

It is necessary ta allot work to each man, for we are going to 
halt to-day, and so one is transformed into a tailor, another into 
a saddler, a third into a shoemaker, and soon the Lobis are told 
tliat they will be free to start to-morrow. They will be paid this 
evening, but they must go up into the mountain and fetch us a 
last supply of brushwood. 

We make every possible effort to retain a friend of Timour — 
Tokta, the musician — but his younger brother entreats him, with 
tears in his eyes, not to accompany us, and Tokta is not at a loss 
for good reasons : " My father is very old, he is quite infirm, 
he is alone in the house with the youngest of his children. 
One of his sons came to help them, bnt the community drove 
him away because he came from Tcherchene, where there is an 
epidemic of smallpox. If I am not back soon, it may happen 
that our family will be expelled and our land seized. My pres- 
ence is indispensable." 



164 ACROSS THIBET. 

We are soity not to be able to keep Tokta, for he is a con- 
I'ageous fellow, of exceptional vigoi-, indefatigable, and always 
cheerful. I had known for the last t^vo days that his mind was 
made up, for, before beginning to climb the pass, he had hidden 
a^vay his musical instrument, carefully wrapped up, so as to pick 
it up on his return. If he had had the slightest intention of 
accompanying us he would not have parted from his inseparable 
Allah-Rabol). To the best of our ability we recompensed this 
faithful follower, and in the evening paid the Lobi loaders and 
donkey-drivers, and purchased from them what little leather they 
possessed. We made them presents, and handed them letters 
for Europe and packages containing the collections we had made 
since leaving Tcharkalik. They promised to hand over these to 
the Aksakal of the Kussian subjects at Kourla, wlio would send 
them on to the Consul at Kuldja. Let me add that these worthy 
fello^^'s kept their ^vord, and that not a single article intrusted to 
them was lost, the whole arriving safely in Paris. 

Timour and Isa, having been questioned apart, promised to 
accompany us. Besides, they had given Parpa their word to 
follow him wherever he goes. Parpa also came to speak to us 
about his father. " He, like the father of Tokta, is incapable of 
lookino; after thino;s alone, of seeins; to our horses and donkeys. 
One of my brothers is with him, but he is an incorrigible 
gambler. I am afraid my father will run short of the necessaries 
of life before I return, as I can see that we have a long journey 
before us." He asks us for a rather large sum, which we advance 
Avithout making any comment, and he says that he shall hand 
the money to Abdullah-Ousta. 

So the day passes, and at night-time there is a good deal of stir 
in the camp, the men holding confabulations with one another 
in an undertone. Rachmed comes to me in the tent and says he 
believes they intend making off in a body. I tell him not to go 
to sleep, but to watch Parpa and to call me if necessary. I shall 
sleep with one eye open. 

December 13. — At daybreak I was astir, and learned that 



A PARTING. 165 

Raclimed had had to threaten Parpa. He had reminded hhn of 
the promise he made to accompany us until we allowed him to 
return. Rachmed told him that his services were more necessar}" 
than ever, that he was well paid, and that he could see by the 
presents made to the Lohis that it ^vas to his interest to serve us 
well. Then Rachmed added that if he made off we shouhl pursue 
him, and that we were quick enough on our legs to overtake him 
and shoot him. Rachmed repeated that if he served us well he 
^vould be handsomely rewarded, and Parpa had, upon reflection, 
decided to follow us. 

I avoided intervening in the matter, and treated the men as if 
nothing had happened, distributing a few articles of confectionery 
and other objects, which they gave to the Lobis for theii' families. 
Small pocket miiTors were much appreciated, but these were only 
given to men who had specially distinguished themselves. 

We commence loading rather late, although it is our intention 
to make a long march, it being important to isolate the men who 
are in an undecided state. The Lobis and the men of Tcharkalik 
who are about to return lend a helping hand to their comrades, 
strapping up the loads, bringing together the camels, and saddling 
the horses — doing all they can, in short, before leaving them. 

When all is ready they sit round in a cii'cle, the Lobis pouiTQo- 
out the tea themselves and handing roimd the cups ; then they 
get up, and our men load AbduUah-Ousta with small packages, 
and charge him to give them to father, brother, wife, friend, or 
master, as the case is. Then they stand motionless, old Abdullah 
recites a prayer, and they all exclaim, "Allah is great ! " lifting 
their hands to theii' beards as they do so. They kiss one another 
\\\t}i tears in their eyes, and Timour commits his Avife to the care 
of Tokta, who is to bid her " have patience, not leave the house, 
or go and live with someone else. I will come back with money 
for her " — a discoiu^se which might have been addressed to Penel- 
ope. 

"Allah is great ! '' exclaims Timour once more, and the others 
repeat it in chorus with him. They go down on their knees to 



166 ACBOSS THIBET. 

US, and we sliake tliem by tlie hand and thank them, begging 
them to retain kindly recollections of us. They wish us a safe 
journey, and commit us to the care of Allah. They are all of 
them more or less affected, and if the tears in the eyes of some of 
them do not trickle down, it is only because the cold congeals 
them. And so we part, our cry being, " Forward to the high- 
lands ! " But we none the less advance slowly, and Prince Henry, 
Father Dedeken, and myself bring up the rear to guard against 
possible desertions. 

First of all we walk on to the river, making for the hole which 
has been left in the ice. As we water our animals one after the 
other, which takes a good deal of time, ^ve can see our compan- 
ions disappearing through the pass, which presents, toward the 
east, a striking phenomenon with its succession of ridges. 

At a little distance from the well which we have managed to 
improvise with our hatchets, we see upon the banks the skeletons 
of camels which have been gnawed bare by the wolves. A little 
further on we find emerging from the ice the almost intact humps 
of camels, and upon closer examination we see that part of a 
caravan has been drowned here, including the camel-driver, one 
of whose arms is raised as if in an attitude of menace or of 
entreaty. Beasts and men had been drowned one after the other, 
and this must have happened only a short time ago, when the ice 
was not thick enough to bear them. We have nothing of the 
kind to fear, for the minimum of the night was 18° below zero. 
Let me add that the Kalmucks whom we met averted their gaze 
from the victims and passed over to the right. 

To-day begins the business of searching for the track, and how 
long it will last we cannot possibly tell. For my own part, I 
am afraid that, as we get further on, we shall encounter real diffi- 
culties, for the wind beyond the Altyn-Tagh often blows \vith 
great violence, and now that the Colombo Mountains (as 
Prjevalsky named them) have been crossed it is easy to see, by 
the aspect of the soil, and by the dust which obscures the hori- 
zon, that the wind will do all it can to make us lose our way, 



INQUISITIVE K0ULANE8. 



167 



the traces of tlie road being already effaced wJiere it is not 
sheltered. 

This first stage is very monotonous, as there is nothing but 
the salt and the desert, with a view of plains of tiskene. One or 
two koulanes watch us from a distance ; the east wind is slight, 




CAMELS ON THE ICE. 



but piercingly cold, and our men tramp along with their heads 
down, regretting, no doubt, the past, and most certainly looking 
forward mth dread to the f utui'e. Then, as we quit the plain, 
there appears a plateau, at the base of which are enormous waves 
of sand moving eastward. Turning round, the chain of moun- 
tains beyond the glittering lake is barely visible, and it is with 
difficulty that we can make out the peaks enveloped in mist. 
Advancing southward, we are soon deep down in the bottoms, 
following the dried-up bed of a river, going first up and then 
down, with the horizon bounded by the ridges of gray hills. 
Like a flock of birds lost upon the waters, our band marches along 



168 ACROSS THIBET. 

witliout energy and without spirit. Is it because we no longer 
see the Colombo Mountains behind us ? because, owing to lack of 
light, the heavens weigh down upon us, crushing us, and isolating 
us from the rest of nature ? or is it the result of the separation 
effected this morning ? 

We encamp in a basin, as much as possible protected from 
the wind, and the men go off in different directions in search of 
roots and argol. The latter is very rare, but the tiskene, the 
kampir, and the ibachane suffice for us. These are the tiny 
plants which creep along these inhospitable heights, and which 
incessant winds twist about and flatten. 

It was quite dark when the caravan had reassembled. Rach- 
med had been told off to foi'm the rear-guard when Prince Henry 
and myself took the lead to show the way. The traces were 
easy to find in places, but in others they vanished altogether, 
so this first evening was not a cheerful one, and our men, tired 
out by a stage which I had intentionally made a long one, 
went to sleep without exchanging a word. The night was 
very bright, the wind having dropped and the cold being very 
severe. 

December 13. — The air is very pure to-day, and we can dis- 
tinctly see the Colombo chain. The Amban-Achkan Davane 
pass is just to the north of our camp, while to the southeast the 
Prjevalsky chain rears its snowy summits ; and almost due south 
two peaks of ice some distance apart are connected, as it were, 
by a snowy dais of dazzling whiteness. Mountains, great and 
small, surround us. 

The air is calm, and we have no difficulty in loading the 
beasts, but no sooner are we on the march than the wind begins 
to blow from the west, and the atmosphere at once gets thick 
with dust, preventing us from seeing any distance and from 
thinking about anything else. We are compelled to march 
along, keeping our eyes on the ground, right and left, for any 
traces of the Kalmucks, our road being on an undulating 
plateau, rising in a westerly direction, where it is bounded by 



THE ART OF RESTING." 



169 



a chain of sandhills. The traces lead off in several directions, 
near a valley, v^ithin which is a frozen pool, and onr caravan 
goes southward, halting in a depression of the soil, near a small 
stretch of ice just to the south of the pass of Amban-Achkan 
Davane. 

Prince Henry and Father Dedeken have killed a fine yak, 
Ts^hich they had to follow a long way, although he had several 
bullets in him. In future we shall have 
to shoot as little as possible, for there is 
nothing more fatiguing than the pursuit of 
game at such an altitude (14,700 feet). 
We are at the outset of our exploring, 
and no one is entitled to be intent upon 
anything but the discovery of the route ; 
he has no right to tire his horse, to display 
his energy, to exhaust his strength, or to 
-take a step which does not contribute 
toward the success of the enterprise. This 
is a point upon which we all agree, while 
discussing the events of the day, and my 
companions have no difficulty in persuad- 
ing themselves that the art of traveling may be defined, very 
paradoxically, yet very accurately, as "the art of resting." 

December 14. — The night has been a bright one, with no wind 
and a minimum of 13° below zero. This morning the sky was 
overcast, and Ave tacked about so as to avoid the ravines and en- 
camp on the other side of the plateau, at the source of a river 
which is now frozen over. We pitched our tent where the 
Kalmuck pilgrims had theirs, and lighted our fires with the 
argol of their yaks. 

The river runs down between high banks westward, and the 
edges of the plateau we are leaving behind us are eaten away by 
the waters ^^vhicli invade it when the sno^v melts. All around 
us is grass of the late autumn, which seems green and delicious, 
and which our animals munch with evident satisfaction ; while 




170 ACIWSS THIBET. 

tlie salt testifies to the presence of water during the rainy- 
season. On the summit of the hills we can distinguish the 
forms of wild animals, but at too great a distance to tell what 
they are. 

We again observe that the pilgrims have left traces indicating 
that they do not travel in a single caravan and only meet at 
certain fixed points, as was the case near the pass of Amban- 
Achkan and again to-day near this river. This custom may be 
explained in more ways than one. Some say — and this may be 
the case — that the pilgrims, not wishing to disclose the secret of 
this route, go intentionally in sections, so as not to trace any 
durable path which could serve as a guide to others. Others 
assert that they proceed by aouls, or tribes, because they have 
good guides and are not afraid of losing their way, and because 
by traveling in separate groups they can feed their animals, 
better. 

From our camp, we can see the path which the pilgrims fol- 
lowed, winding up along the hill which shuts off the route to the 
south, and curiosity impels me to climb this path and find out 
what awaits us to-morrow. Once on the top of the ridge, I see 
again the two large white peaks, which are reached by a green 
surface, dotted here and there with sheets of ice on the bottoms,, 
with hills all around. Judging by what we have seen up to the 
present, this is a spectacle we shall often have before us. The 
Mongolian route appears to take a southwesterly course so as to 
strike, to the right of the white ridges, an easier way. 

Below me, well out of shot, is a herd of koulanes, and they do 
not see me until I am within 650 yards of them, when three 
males look in my direction. As I stand still, they become re- 
assured and go on feeding. In this way, I get to within 400 
yards of them, but then the alarm is given, and the troop form& 
up, with the males at its head. But instead of bolting off, they 
advance toward me, and as I retreat they come on in a sort of 
semicircle, actuated, apparently, by curiosity. Can it be that 
they have a vague recollection of having once lived on good 



OBONGO ANTELOPES. Ill 

terms with man, and tliat tliey would like to renew the acquaint- 
ance ? However this may be, a shot from my gun cuts their 
reflections short, and they make ofi* at a bound, leaving behind 
them one of the number which I have wounded, and which can- 
not keep up with the main body. 

On returning to camp I learn that Niaz is ill, and that nearly 
all the men are complaining of headache. Above our heads are 
a number of crows which have followed in the track of the pil- 
grims and fed upon their dead, while we also notice some rats of 
the species peculiar to the steppe. Larks, and other birds, in- 
cluding the cha-tie, fly through the air at a great pace, as if anx- 
ious to get out of such an inhospitable region. 

Deceinher 15. — We cross the chain of hills and make our way 
to "ward the peaks, doing our best to find easy going, and to avoid 
the marshes and ravines. As soon as possible, we steered a 
southerly course, and only discovered that we were on a sort of 
terrace, an immense table-land above the plains, when we got to 
the edge of it. In descending the slope, we were surprised to see 
a reo:ular flock of orong^os which were browsino^ in the bed of a 
torrent, silvered in places by layers of salt that seemed like pools 
of water or blocks of ice. Having no skins of these antelopes, 
which we had never seen before, we lost no time in killing some. 
It would be impossible to conceive anything more graceful than 
the way in Avhich these animals carry themselves, combining at 
once so much elegance and strength. We admire their large 
black muzzles, their broad dark chests, their gray coats, and the 
fury with which the males attack one another. 

The females get their young together and drive them up 
toward the hills, galloping after them at a great pace. The males, 
now on the flanks of the herd, now in the rear, and now going 
back to fetch one of the females which has lagged behind, bound 
along, head downward, with an agility which we envy all the 
more because we cannot go more than twenty yards without 
sitting down to rest. These antelopes display a certain amount 
of courage, for a male which Prince Henry had shot chai'ged him^ 



172 ACROSS THIBET. 

and had to be dispatched with a revolver, v^hile one which I had 
wonnded tried to rip open the horse which Rachmed, who went 
close np to it, was riding. Father Dedeken also killed one, and 
the result of all this is that we are delayed in our march, that we 
cannot reach the frozen pool, and that we have to go to bed with- 
out drinking. We give this plain the name of the antelopes 
(Orongos) we have killed there, and it is to be hoped that any 
future explorer who may fail to see any there will not tax us 
with exaggeration. 

December 16. — The whole of our troop was astir early, and 
lost no time in reaching the frozen river Avhich supplies the snowy 
chain trendino; eastward. We shelter ourselves from the north- 
west wdhd at the foot of a terrace, and the day is spent in eating 
and drinking. A f e^v delicacies are distributed by way of dessert, 
and, with the sun warming us a little in the afternoon, good- 
humor is restored. All the sick persons, excepting Maz, are im- 
proving. Parpa, who was constantly groaning, looks better in the 
eye, and Rachmed assures me that there was not really much the 
matter with him. I hear my companions making all sorts of 
plans, and I am myself inclined to regard them as feasible. In 
the meanwhile it is decided not to start in future without two or 
three days' supply of ice and a corresponding quantity of argol. 
The reader can have no idea how difficult it is to induce men 
who are tired out to take the most primitive precautions against 
cold and thirst. We are encamped at an altitude of 15,400 feet 
and, looking back toward the north, we can again see the Co- 
lombo Mountains, and it seems as if we were separated from them 
by a smooth plain cut in two by a long ridge of cliffs. 

December 17. — Winding round the chain of hills which pro- 
tected us, and leaving on our left, to the east, the snow-capped 
mountains, we arrived by a small pass at the camping-ground of 
the Kalmucks, on the brink of a dried-up torrent, the carcasses of 
five camels indicating the route to follow. The stage was a fa- 
tiguing one, owing to a blinding nor' wester. We followed an 
easy path, winding along the spurs of hills, many of which ter- 



CAMP BE LA MI8EBIC0RDE. 173 

minate at their culminating point in protuberances like warts on 
the human body. 

Before making for the southwest we saw behind us, from the 
top of the pass, the hill of which we had first of all made the 
chcuit. Its summit is jagged and broken up into battlements of 
Asiatic aspect, while it bristles with sharp points in the shape 
of arrows and Gothic steeples. 

Deceinher 18. — All nio-ht the abominable northwest wind has 
been howling, with a minimum of 9° below zero. The men are 
all ill, with the usual symptoms. When we prepared for a start 
the thermometer was at 2° below zero, with a good deal of wind, 
and it was no pleasant business for the men to handle the ropes. 
We were still in a desert of sand and stones, with a few tufts of 
rank grass and salt, but after scrambling over a pass about 16,000 
feet above the sea-level, with our camels, we descended into the 
valley through a gorge, where we get welcome protection from 
the wind. We believe that we are now on the other side of the 
Prjevalsky chain, and, according to Timour, this chain extends as 
far as Bogalik. 

We halt in the midst of the sand, in a hollow where we can 
set the wind at defiance. All around us the ground undulates 
very much, and the horizon is so far familiar that we can make 
out the same peaks which have hitherto served as landmarks, 
though we believe that we are in another region. Presently the 
mud goes do^vn and the sky becomes overcast. At nightfall, and 
^sA\\\ the temperature at only 3° above zero, we find it so pleasant 
that we call this place the Camp de la Misericorde. 

December 19. — To give further Justification for this name, we 
were informed on waking this morning that nearly all our men 
were indisposed, especially Imatch, the bandy-legged. They at- 
tributed this indisposition to a hot wind which, they said, was 
blowing during the night. As to Niaz, he is so weak that he 
cannot stand up, and the men say that this hot wind must have 
been very bad for him. Yet the thermometer stood as low as 
18° below zero during the night. Soon there is a fall of snow, 



174 ACROSS THIBET. 

but only for a few minutes ; then tlie sun comes out, and it 
would be just tlie weather for starting on the march, only we 
have no horses. They had been picketed out before daybreak, 
so as to enable them to graze upon the scanty herbage, but the 
poor animals, not having drunk for several days, went off in 
quest of a spring. As the reader may imagine, they had some 
distance to travel, and Timour, who had gone off in search of 
them, had not returned. Night set in, and still there were no 
signs of him. Rachmed has been scorning the country, and has 
found traces of Kalmucks going directly south through the sands. 
As soon as it gets dark a lantern is hoisted at the top of a pole 
and placed on a hillock, so that it may serve as a lighthouse for 
Timour. At intervals we fire oft' a gun or a revolver. All our 
men are haunted by the idea that he is calling out, and at inter- 
vals one of them gets up and fires oft' his gun. So it goes on all 
night. 

December 20. — At 5 a. m. there is a fall of about half an 
inch of snow, as fine as sleet, and the temperature rises a little. 
The sky remains overcast, and then a southwest wind gets up 
and the sun comes out. The minimum for the night has been 
25° below zero, and we feel very sorry for poor Timour, who 
has not yet returned. Parpa starts oft on a camel, carrying a 
pelisse, some food, and water in the shape of ice, and he goes 
to the left, while Rachmed sets out to the right on foot, carry- 
ing a cudgel, a revolver, and some bread. He will go as far 
as he can, for not only is Timour his friend but he realizes what 
a disaster the loss of the horses would be. We watch him start at 
the rapid pace which his familiarity with life on lofty mountains 
alone renders possible, and await the result with no little anxiety. 

About noon, Timour arrived on Parpa's camel, the latter 
followino; at a slower rate with the horses. We welcomed him 
back Avith delight, and he had tears in his eyes when he saw us 
again, being blue with cold and very tired. After he had con- 
sumed a good deal of tea and sugar, he related his adventures as. 
follows : 



TIMOUR LOST AND FOUND. 175 

" I found the track of the horses two hours after leaving the 
camp. Fu'st of all, they had gone somewhat at haphazard, wander- 
ing from right to left, and then one of them assumed the lead, 
taking the others a great distance. It was not till close upon the 
feeding-time for animals in winter (about three o'clock) that I 
caught sight of the first horse. I got on his back in order to 
reach the others, but finding that he was tired, I got off and led 
him. I gradually caught them all, beginning with those which 
were the most tired, and as I caught them I hobbled them with 
their halters. Then when I had secured them all — for 1 counted 
them — I got them together, and night set in. I marched on, 
driving them in front of me, but, despite the brilliancy of the 
stars, I could not find the camp. I called out, but I could get no 
answer, so I tied the horses together and slept leaning against one 
of them which had laid down. This warmed me a little, but it 
was bitterly cold, and I have a pain in my head." 

Everyone was overjoyed, for Timour is very much liked, no 
work being too much for him, while he is one of the best men 
we have to follow out a track. When traveling, one soon gets 
attached to men of this type, and soon learns in the same way 
to despise the selfish and the lazy. 

The first thing was to give the horses water. First of all, we 
tried to obtain some by cutting into the ice of a small lake near 
oui' camp, but it was only a waste of time ; for though we hacked 
and hewed away, there was no sign of any water. Then we 
piled up roots and argol, to which we set fire, passing the whole 
day in melting the ice, so as to distribute small quantities of 
water to the poor animals. This operation lasted all the after- 
noon and part of the evening, so, in future, whenever we get into 
camp, we will cut blocks of ice out of the surface of the lakes 
and let the horses crunch them. 

In the afternoon we saw larks and other birds fl}ing eastward, 
and rats emerging from the ground, attracted by the sunlight. In 
going to look for E-achmed — as it is he that is lost now — I climbed 
to the summit of a sandhill, the smooth base of which is scored 



176 ACROSS THIBET. 

by rugged lines, forming one of a series of hillocks which lemind 
me of barkhaues,* which have been brought to a standstill. In 
the first place, plants with an infinite growth of roots have envel- 
oped them as it wei'e in a w^eb, then tufts of grass have fixed 
them in their place. The snow, as it melts, has acted like 
masonry, and the wind has ceased to have any hold except upon 
the very light grains which are sprinkled on the surface. 

The snow has streaked ^vith white this corner of the earth's 
surface, and the sun has, if I may so express myself, made the 
landscape look old-fashioned, like that which you see on a box of 
sweetmeats. The colors are in juxtaposition but they do not 
fuse, the effect being that of the chromo-lithographer rather than 
of the colorist. In all directions the soil has been scored by 
ephemeral torrents, which have left a little ice behind them in 
some corner or gully. At each step one takes, it becomes clear 
that this is not a country in w^hich it would be possible to live, 
for the solitude is too great and the cold too intense. The lungs 
either do not act at all, or act too much, and if one happens to 
uncover the mouth Avhile walking, the bronchial tube is inflamed 
or irritated by the cold air. Most of our men are coughing' 
during the night, and everything gets so dry that our toe and 
finger nails snap off at the least touch, while wood breaks like 
glass. The beard does not grow, but loses its color, the hands 
chap, the skin cracks, and the lij3s swell. None of us escape the 
mountain sickness, to combat which great energy is required, for 
it saps all one's strength ; and experience has shoAvn me that the 
only way to obtain normal circulation of the blood is simply to 
keep moving quickly about after one has well lined one's 
stomach. 

It is difficult to do anything on an empty stomach, lor you at 
once have cold feet and a bad headache. As soon as you have 
taken food you feel better, and as you believe the mischief is past, 
and you are weak, you are tempted to lie down and wrap yourself 
well up. Your feet again get cold, and the headache returns,, 

* Turkish name for hillocks of shiftina; sand. 



BEMEDT FOR MOUNTAIN SICKNESS. 177 

but as soon as you sit up you feel relieved, aucl if you go out for 
a quick walk tke symptoms quickly disappear. 

I have tried tkis several times upon myself and my men, and 
it has always been successful. It proved so to-day in the case of 
Imatch, who was complaining of a horrible headache till I made 
him take a good cup of tea with plenty of sugar, dipping into it 
a bit of bread, as hard as a stone, and then go out and look for 
the sheep. He had a difficulty in making a start, but when he 
came back he was feeling better. It was the same with Isa and 
Parpa, and I have noticed that there were always more men ill on 
the days that we halted. First of all I thought this must be due 
to the reaction following on great fatigue, but I afterward ascer- 
tained that it was because the men gave way and remained 
without motion, instead of facilitating the circulation of the 
blood by exercise. 

While I am noting down this fact, the lighted lantern is once 
more hoisted on top of our pole, as Rachmed has not yet returned. 
Some of our men have been sent out to look for him, but they 
have returned without finding him, having been forbidden to go 
very far, for fear they might get lost themselves. Well as we 
are acquainted with Rachmed's ability, and confident as we feel 
that he has not lost his way, we begin to be anxious about him. 
He must have gone a great distance and been overtaken by the 
darkness. We fire guns at intervals, and utter prolonged shouts, 
fort he cold is intense, with gusts of w^nd from the southwest, 
and the poor fellow only took a light cloak with him so as to 
be able to walk with comfort. At 8 p. jvi., the thermometer 
marks 20° below zero, while the minimum of the night is 28^^ 
below zero, with a wind which freezes the blood in one's veins. 

It may seem singular that our people lose their way so often ; 
but it will be neither the first nor the last time, nothing being 
easier even for the most prudent and experienced. It is difficult 
to imagine how hard it is to find one's way among these high- 
lands where man forgets all notions of perspective, his eye 
wandering over immense spaces without seeing at given distances 



178 ACEOSS THIBET. 

either trees, houses, human beings, animals, or edifices the height 
of which is known to him. It is by the incessant and unconscious 
comparison of these that he has learned to form an idea of distance. 

Here in the desert we, in a few wrecks, have lost this sense of 
distance which we had gained by the experience of our lifetime. 
All that one sees is so alike : one hill is like another ; according 
to the time of day a frozen pool either sparkles in the sun or dis- 
appears, so that one does not know whether it is large or small ; a 
little bird, fluttering its wings upon a clod of earth, looks like a 
wild animal which has been lying do^vn and is getting up ; a cro^v, 
flying away with its prey in the morning mist, seems to be a 
gigantic condor carrying off a lamb in its claws, while at sunset 
this same crow, cleaning itself on the summit of a rock, looks the 
size of a yak or a bear. 

And so the man who has lost sight of the caravan or camp is 
constantly being deceived. His eyes are affected by the smoke 
of the argol, the cold, the mnd, and by having used them too 
much, and he is led astray by appearances. If the light fades, or 
the sky becomes overcast, he is lost. Night overtakes him, a 
black and starless night, and then he has only one thing to do, 
viz., to stay where he is until either the wind clears away the 
clouds, or the moon gets up, or until day dawns again. Should 
the sky clear before dawn, he may endeavor to make for his camp 
by means of the polar star. Or in the morning the sun will tell 
him where the east is. But a man must be very bold, or have a 
marvelous memory for the direction followed, to trust himself 
merely to the cardinal points. The surest, not to say the only 
way, is to retrace one's steps, and should they have been effaced 
by a tempest, the man may be regarded as lost. 

All night long I hear the groans of JSTiaz, who is very ill and 
■cannot recover. He is delirious, fancying that he can see t^^'o 
children holding his head. He complains of intolerable pains in 
the brain, and has no strength to eat or drink, while his tongue 
is swollen, his face and lips being tumefied and blue. AVe can do 
nothing for him, as what he wants is to be at a louver altitude, 



BAGHMKD LOST AND FOUND. 179 

aud we shall probably be obliged to mount still higher to- 
morrow. 

December 21. — This morning, Rachmed not having returned, 
Dedeken on horseback and Timour on a camel went to meet him, 
and soon returned followed by Rachmed, who, after mounting 
the camel, felt the cold a good deal, and preferred to walk. He 
does not seem to be very much done up, and after he has eaten 
and drunk heartily, we hear his story. He has been a long way, 
describing a large semicircle around the traces of a route, and as 
he saw nothing he went marching on until he got surprised by 
night. Then, thanks to a clear sky, he came upon the track of 
the Mongolians, and rested for a little beside a fire of argol which 
he lighted. " Then," he went on to say, " I returned in the direc- 
tion of the camp, and the cold was so intense that I no longer 
dared to stop for fear of going to sleep and never waking again. 
So then I warmed myself again in my own way." 

" How did you manage ? " 

" I unrolled the strips of wool which I had round my feet and 
legs, and put half of them next to my chest, under my. clothes ; 
and when I stopped to rest, I removed the strips I had round my 
feet, and substituted for them those which had been ^varmed by 
contact with my body. So I could stop for a minute without 
having my feet frozen. When the cold began to get trying, I 
started off again, and w^alked nearly the whole night." 

We were delighted to see him back, and after a few minutes' 
rest, he was at work again as usual. He even wanted to strike 
oiu' tents and establish the camp further on, where there is a little 
grass, but, it being late, we deferred the operation till to-morrow. 

It is a consolation to know that there is no one missing, for we 
are so isolated in this immense desert that the very worst of our 
men is extremely precious. Perhaps this may be because man is 
scarce, and his value, like that of other things, is a question of 
supply and demand. But it is not merely for economic reasons 
that we are full of anxiety when one of our men is missing. It 
is because we are attached to him, because he belongs to our 



180 ACBOSS THIBET. 

troop, to our party. When traveling, I have often watched the 
flocks of birds flying overhead, and going in families and troops 
like ourselves. I imagine that when they meet in the evening 
and compose themselves to sleep, each head of the family counts 
his flock, and if one is missing the companions of the absent one 
are all in distress. So it is with us. 

December 22. — During the night there were gusts of wind 
from the southwest, with a minimum of 22° below zero. A 
horse has died, the first of the long series which must inevitably 
follow. After having passed several sandy mountain spurs, we 
reached a large valley extending from northwest to southeast. 
The sand, dotted with tufts of grass, was succeeded by denuded 
and stony surfaces, which appeared to have been washed bare by 
torrential floods. 

All at once there rose to our right, westward, at a point where 
the chain we have before us seems to join on to that which we 
have left behind us, what looked like the peak of Stromboli, as I 
saw it for the first time when making for Sicily. Looking down- 
ward, I saw that the bed of the ravines we were going through 
was darkish in hue and sprinked about with lava. We encamped 
in the lava plain, and as the volcano lets fall its long trailing 
mantle just west of us, we christen it after Reclus, the greatest 
of French geographers, who will be pleased to hear of our dis- 
covery. Eastward, amid a number of snowy peaks, there towers 
a giant more than 23,000 feet high, which we name after Ferrier, 
a French traveler little known to his countrymen, who, in his 
day, made a magnificent journey through Afghanistan. This 
valley is, of course, shut in by mountains, and it strikes us as 
being about a hundred miles long. To the north, the chain 
undulates in some places, and is jagged in others ; while west- 
ward, we notice several cones beyond the Reclus volcano. 

We have to go to bed without lighting a fire, and therefore 
without drinking any tea, as the roots we had picked up were 
too impregnated with salt to produce a flame. Niaz is dying. 

A good many orongo antelopes are in sight, and wolves and 



CHINESE HEARTLE88NESS. 183 

foxes are prowling about. They seem to live principally upon a 
small gi'ay rodent ^^atli a large head, not unlike a guinea pig. 

December 23. — A cold wind from the southeast, with a mini- 
mum of 22° below zero. When we started southward, where 
there appears to be a pass leading through the chain, the sky 
^yas clear, and the desert, up which we made our way by a very 
gradual ascent, bare and stony, furrowed by a few ravines, wdthin 
which orongos were lying sheltered beside large slabs of salt. 
At our feet were cinders, lava, and a very dark surface, and the 
pass, mde where we entered it, gradually narrowed. But the 
route was a good one for the camels, being soft to the feet and 
dusty, with bits of schist lying about. As soon as we lost sight 
of the E.eclus volcano there was an end to the lava. 

The Doungane is in bad humor. This morning he beat his 
son and wanted to kill him, Rachmed being compelled to inter- 
vene. As to Niaz, he has become unconscious, and is strapped 
on to a camel to prevent him from falling off. When I came 
into the camp after all the others, I learned that when the 
Doungane got there he did not even make the camel kneel down, 
but that, unfastening the ropes, he let Niaz fall with all his 
weight to the ground. This heartlessness, which is characteristic 
of the Chinese race, is a thing to which neither we nor our Mus- 
sulmans can accustom ourselves. It is just as well not to have a 
revolver about one when present at such scenes as this. 

Our camp is pitched in the middle of the pass, at an altitude 
of about 17,340 feet, and it is bitterly cold. The wind has swept 
a little snow into the crevices, and it is carefully collected, some 
of it being given to the men, while the rest is put into the canoes, 
which will serve as drinking-troughs for our horses. They swal- 
low the snow, which we have mixed with barley, with manifest 
satisfaction. 

Niaz is at the last gasp, his face being hardly recognizable, and 
he cannot open his eyes. About six o'clock Timour comes to 
say that he thinks he is dead, but Rachmed finds that he is still 
breathing, though he cannot get through the night. 



184 ACROSS THIBET. 

December 24. — At daybreak the tempest wliicli had begun in 
the night is still raging; and Rachmed, when he comes to make 
his customary report, has a depressed look, with tears standing 
in his eyes. " It is all over," he says, " with Niaz, but we have 
neither water nor wood to melt the ice, and we cannot wash the 
body according to the rule, nor array it in clean garments." 

" No matter ; Allah will forgive you, for you are doing the 
best you can." 

" We will roll the body up in the white felt which I lent him 
to keep himself warm. But I do not think that we can dig him 
a grave. The mountain is too hard." 

" Inter him the best way you can." 

" I will do so myself, with the help of Timour, who is reciting 
the prayers, and of Parpa, who has sat at meat Avith Niaz's 
sister." 

" Very good ; we will help you too." 

The body of the faithful servant lies wrapped up in the pelisse 
near the tent of his ill-conditioned master. We cover it with 
white felt, and the body, which has been stiifened by the cold, 
is not heavy. The snow is falling in whirling flakes all around 
"US, and the wind is piercingly cold, as our men take their pick- 
axes and try to break up the ground. This they fail to do, and 
then they resort to their hatchets and see what can be done with 
them, for the Mussulmans are not like the Buddhists, who leave 
their dead exposed, and they would give anything to put the 
body of Niaz beyond reach of the wild beasts. But the effort 
they make soon takes their breath away, and they have to stop 
and rest, the tears which run down their cheeks freezing on their 
beards, from which they hang like so many icicles. They are 
soon exhausted, for the tempest takes all their breath away, and 
they have only been able to make a very shallow grave — little 
more than one of those cavities which animals scoop out with 
their paws when they want to go to sleep. 

Then Rachmed remembers that the dead man's face should be 
turned toward the holy city of Mecca, and he is afraid whether 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF NIAZ. 186 

all this labor may uot have been in vain. So he questions Parpa 
on the point ; but Timour has thought of the Keblah, and, 
pointing to the southwest, he says, "It is over there, we can 
place him so." 

Rachmed asks me if the needle of the compass tells the same 
story, and, upon my saying that it does, they take up the body 
carefully, lay it on the ground as a mother might her sleeping 
child, and raise the head, which is well covered up, on to a flat 
stone so that, as they think, Maz may sleep better. They tuck 
him in as if he were in bed, and are surprised to find, as they move 
him, how illness has brought down his weight. Then, when he is 
carefully put to rest, they place the stones and the lumps of earth 
over him, and go on until the whole of the felt, ^^hich serves as 
a cofiin for him, is hidden from sight. Then each of us, in order 
to complete the work, goes and gets a slab of schist out of the 
pocket of his cloak and places it over the grave, while Timour 
plants in the ground several straight pieces of wood at the place 
where the head is laid. That done, we have to say farewell to 
our worthy comrade. Father Dedeken first recites some prayers, 
and is followed by Timour. AVe are all of us sobbing, and 
Timour can scarcely finish his oration, which he winds up, in a 
paroxysm of grief, by afiirming the greatness of Allah, the sur- 
vivors taking up the refrain, " Allah is great ! God is great ! " 

So we commit to his rest, each of us after our own customs 
and with sincere sorrow, sterling, honest Niaz. 

Then the camels are loaded amid a violent snowstorm, and 
when all is ready the Doungane, who had treated his servant 
worse than a camel, comes and prostrates himself ceremoniously, 
as befitted a representative of the best bred people in Asia — I 
mean, of course, the Chinese. 

When we start, the " bourane " becomes more intense, and it 
being hopeless to follow out a track in such weather, we have to 
guess our way until the sun, after being so long veiled behind 
the clouds, comes out and gives us fresh courage. We reach the 
summit of the pass, and deviate a little eastward to a gully. 



186 ACEOSS THIBET. 

down whicli we go, protected from all wind, and in wMcli we 
can feel tlie warmth of the sun, our gloomy ideas evaporating 
under its cheering influence. 

After coming out of the gully and crossing the chain where 
the body of Niaz is interred, we again find ourselves in a valley 
analogous to that " of the lava," but not so long or so broad, and 
extending eastward, with lakes, some of which are close to salt 
deposits that appear to be frozen over. There is a succession of 
dried beds of torrents, bare hills, and orongos roaming about, 
with snow accumulated in some of the crevices. This is the only 
modification to which the scenery, that varies so little in this 
region, is subject. The sky being cloudy, our horizon is a limited 
one, the traces of the pilgrims growing scarcer and scarcer, and 
being only visible where the camels have left their droppings. 
This occurs most frequently on the slopes which the camels 
have to climb, and we do all we can to follow them up. 

December 25. — To-day there is a fall of snow. We see nothing 
but small lakes, salt, and sandy hills. One pass is very much 
like another, and when the sky is clear we can see mountain 
upon mountain, with a great variety of peaks, and a mixture of 
ice and snow. The route is strewn with the dead bodies of yaks, 
which had belonged to the Kalmucks, and the snow falls nearly 
every day, though in small quantities, the wind blowing from 
the southwest, while we have quite lost our way. 

December 29. — The wind is to the west, and this does not 
mend our position, for we are going due south over a bare plain. 
We encamp in the midst of the lava, at the foot of a volcano to 
which we give the name of Ruysbrook, or Eubruquis, in compli- 
ment to the great Flemish traveler, the compatriot of Father 
Dedeken. To the west of the camp. Prince Henry and Timour 
come upon camel droppings, so the route which goes southward 
is again found. The marches are now very severe, for in addition 
to the twelve miles or so of mountain climbing we effect each 
day, we have to prospect the route for the following one. As 
soon as the tent has been pitched, sometimes while it is being 



A VOLCAJSO NAMED. 



187 



pitclied, we go forward to see what lies before us, a slice of 
bread and a few dried apricots helping to keep one in trim. But 
it is tiring work, for no sooner do we get to what looks like a 
summit than we find there is a higher one beyond, and in 
this way we are often 
tempted on and on until 
night sets in, with diffi- 
culty finding our way to 
the camp. 

After a still, starry 
night, mth a minimum 
of 21° below zero, we 
started just as a west / 
wind still more intoler- / 
able than yesterday's y 
got up. We could not ! , 
open our right eyes, and ii 
it was the same with the 
horses, whose right eyes 
Ts^ere masked by a frozen 
tear. The traces of the 
preceding year were very 
apparent in the plain. 
The "Red Pass," as we 

call it, because of the color of the soil, led us to the camp of 
the pilgrims, which had been pitched in a depression of the 
ground behind a volcano, of which there is a whole series just 
here. The wind did not stop till about 7 p. m., and we notice 
that this west wind generally gets up about 10 a. m. 

Decemher 30. — The night having been a quiet one, the men 
say they feel better, and the weather is now magnificent. To 
the northwest a volcano stands out very clear and distinct, 
capped with snow, and the sun sheds upon the scene a tinge of 
the picturesque to which our eye is not accustomed. For four 
horn's we pass a good deal of lava, the largest blocks being the 




HEAD OF AN ORONGO ANTELOPE. 



188 ACBOSS THIBET. 

furtliest from the volcano, close to which there is a good deal of 
crumbling dust. 

At first our route is a pleasant one, following a well-sheltered 
narrow ravine, in which it is quite warm. But this is too good 
to last, and we come out upon the steppe across which a bitter 
Avind is blowing. Before the hurricane has reached its 
maximum of intensity I have time to distinguish in the 
west a vast chain of mountains with snowy peaks thirty or 
thirty-iive miles away, as far as I can judge with my eyes so 
inflamed. 

At times, we cannot see ten paces in front of us, and I have 
the camels brought close together, Prince Henry putting himself 
at their head and leading them, by means of the compass, in a 
southerly direction. Rachmed and myself endeavor to find the 
traces of the I'oute, and the others shelter themselves as best 
they can behind the camels. 

The tempest is gradually demolishing the crumbling hills and 
the barkhanes in the lower grounds. The laws of gravity pre- 
vail even here, and while at the foot of the hills we are assailed 
by what might be described as grains of corn, higher up there is 
a dust which forms into waves and which the tempest lifts and 
hurls in all directions. The scene is a fantastic one, and these 
mountains of sand form a singular spectacle. In the evening we 
come upon the pilgrims' camping-ground in a harva, within which 
we are glad to take rest. 

December 31. — The tempest lasted all through the night, with 
a minimum of 21° below zero. We sorely need a lower altitude, 
for men, horses, and camels are alike in a bad way, and old 
Imatch has one of his feet badly swollen. All through this, the 
last day of the year, we marched along between sandhills, wind- 
ing round the shores of a lake, our horses pi'etty well blinded by 
the dust and sand. The camels would not follow one another, 
for the wind blinded and stupefied them, and each one tried to 
shelter himself behind the other. This caused them to deviate 
from the straight line, and Prince Henry, with compass in hand,. 



KEEPING THE NEW YEAR. 189 

leading tlie way, had constantly to turn round and put tlie 
caravan straight. 

It is thus that we reached the camping-ground and found an 
ad lihit'mn supply of argol and ice. This makes the encamp- 
ment Just tolerable, and we celebrate the New Year by slaugh- 
tering a sheep which has lost most of its fat, but which is none 
the less appreciated. Imatch, whose foot has swollen in an 
alarming way, complains of headache and singing in the ears. 
Being afraid that the foot is frost-bitten, we relieve him a little 
with a plaster made of mutton fat, and, having put his foot into 
the smoking paunch of the sheep, he at once feels relieved. 

Isa prepares a dish which is not at all inviting in appearance, 
but tastes better than it looks : it is made out of the sheep's en- 
trails. Then we make an immense " tchouzma," this consisting of 
flour mixed with mutton fat, which is boiled in a small quantity 
of water, a little powdered sugar being then added. After great dif- 
ficulty we get a little tea, for the Avind is so violent that it takes 
hours to melt the ice and boil the water. Just as the meat cannot 
be thoroughly cooked for the same reason. Then after express- 
ing our best wishes for a " happy new year " to our relatives and 
friends at home, and securing the pegs of our tent, which the wind 
assails with unabated fury, we turn in as quickly as possible, 
Prince Henry trying to put the best face on things by observing 
that in such weather as this one would not be better off at sea. 



CHAPTER VIII 

A WILDERNESS OF MOUNTAINS. 

New Year's Greetings — The Ruysbrook Volcano — Abdullah Astray — Recovering the 
Track of the Pilgrims— Making for the Tengri Nor — Crossing the Lake of Cones on 
the Ice — " Lake Montcalm " — A Valley of Dry Bones — The " Dupleix Mountains " — 
Human Handiwork — Probable Source of the Yaug-Tse-Kiang— Fossils at a Height 
of 19,000 Feet — Traces of Human Beings — 48° Below Zero — Celebrating the Chinese 
New Year — "Crows with a Metallic Croak" — Mountains Everywhere — Running 
"Water. 

January 1, 1890. — After having 
exchanged greetings, we are de- 
lighted to find that the hurricane 
from the west has subsided to a 
wind which w^e should have 
thought intolerable four or five 
days ago, but Avhich we now re- 
gard as little more than an ordi- 
nary breeze. The sky is compara- 
tively clear, and the year opens 
auspiciously. We can make out 
where we are, and to N.N.AV. the 
Ruysbrook volcano stands out so 
distinctly that one might imagine 
it had got closer to us. Snowy 
peaks, visible in all directions, show that we have got out of the 
desert. As we could not detect any traces of the pilgrims, we 
steered due south. 

We emerged from the sandy valley to encamp on the hills, not 
far from the ice and sheltered from the west wind. The soil is 
covered with lava, and is of a very dark hue, the presence of all 
this lava being accounted for by the proximity of several cones 
of volcanoes. As soon as we arrived we broke up into small 

190 




THE PRINCE IN HIS TRAVELING OUTFIT. 



ABDULLAH ASTRAY. 191 

parties to searcli for the traces of tlie pilgrims' route, but found 
uone. At nightfall AbduUali was missing. 

January 2. — AbduUali did not return all night, to our great 
disquietude, and this morning Rachmed and Timour went in 
search of him. Rachmed brought back his horse, without its 
saddle or piece of felt, and soon after Abdullah himself followed 
in a pitiable state. He had got astray in the storm, his horse 
had dropped out of sheer weakness, and, after having made a 
vain attempt to return, he had unsaddled the latter and taken 
its piece of felt to cover himself with. Having plenty of argol 
handy, he had lighted a fire with the butt end of his whip, and 
would have passed the night in comparative comfort had he not 
been so terribly hungry. But he soon made up for lost time. 

After the comparative lull during the night and morning, the 
west wind got up again about nine o'clock, but, fortunately, the 
soil where we are is not very sandy. So we do not suffer so 
much from the dust, though in the valley below it blows in such 
clouds that there is nothing else to be seen. 

When I go down to the banks of the stream to see if I cannot 
discover some traces of a route, I come upon the tracks of a woK, 
and soon after I see the wolf himself in pursuit of a herd of 
antelopes. He has not much chance of overtaking them and, 
when he stops short, a bullet from my rifie rudely breaks in upon 
his reflections. 

There is a good deal of animal life about, larks, black eagles, 
and falcons hovering in the air, and I notice that there are a 
great many animals of the rat species which have their holes in 
the slopes. They are a light gray in color, with large heads, 
powerful Jaws, long bodies, and short legs. They seem to be fat 
and well-living, and I am almost tempted to envy them their 
warm holes in this bitter weather. 

At nightfall Ilachmed came in from the south, without having 
discovered the least trace of the passage of the pilgrims. Father 
Dedeken has been equally unsuccessful, and so, too, has Prince 
Henry, who came in dead tired, carrying on his back the heads 



192 ACROSS THIBET. 

of two orongos which he had killed. Tiiiioiir was still absent, 
and it was not for a long time, and after we had been shontiug 
for him in all directions, that he made his appearance, with icicles 
hanging from his beard, and so done up that he could hardly 
stand. He had a difficulty in breathing and in getting out his 
words, but his face was radiant, for he had come upon plenty of 
traces, in proof of which he proudly produced some camel drop- 
pings from his pocket. 

This piece of news puts all our troop in good-humor, especially 
as the droppings are so similar to those we have seen before that 
they clearly belong to the same camels. 

January 3. — We make rather to the east, so as to strike the 
pilgrims' route. Enormous yaks stand to watch us pass, and but 
for the disobedience of a dog, we might have killed one of these 
mountains of flesh. A camel which had seemed to be quite well 
died suddenly as we were climbing one of the many hills up and 
down which we went all day in this region so full of ravines. In 
the evening we find a shelter in the bottom of a small amphi- 
theater of hills, amid the crumbling sandstone. The cliffs and 
banks, eaten out and scored by the wind, break the usual monot- 
ony of our horizon, and produce the effect of a country which is 
inhabited, or which has been. 

The sky is clear, and the west wind has dropped almost com- 
pletely, and, with the moon shining brightly, we shall have a 
sharp night. 

January 4. — The thermometer marked a minimum of 35° be- 
low zero, and this morning is lovely. I need not describe our 
route, for it is always the same up hill and down dale, its monot- 
ony being only broken by the west wind, which seems always 
to get up about 10 a. m. 

January 5. — It is as bitterly cold as ever, and after marching 
for some time, we see to the south, above a dark but not very 
lofty chain of hills, a number of icy peaks all in a line. They 
form part of a very high and jagged chain, covered with snow, 
and some of our men want to know how we are to cross this 



IGE A8 PURE AS CRYSTAL." 



193 



mass of snow and ice, declaring that tlie further we advance the 
more intense is the cold and the higher the mountains. One 
-chain after another bars the way, and how are we to get over 




THE KUYSBROOK PEAK. 



them, I endeavor to console them by pointing to the horizon 
behind us, and to the mountains, which look just as impassable 
a,s those in front of us. 

We shall have some good tea this evening, for we come upon 
a lake with ice as pure as crystal, so we empty our sacks of the 
dirty ice they contained and take in a fresh supply. Pitching 
our camp in the lowest part of the valley near the lake, our 
arrival puts to flight a dozen orongos which were licking the 
surface of the ice, which shone in the sun like a mirror and 
I'eflected the graceful forms of these elegant animals. There are 
blocks of lava along the edge of this lake, the level of which has 
been gradually falling, for we can trace six successive circles on 
the banks, indicating the six successive changes of level. It 
seems certain, too, that there are some hot- water springs nearly 
in the center. 

The night is magnificent, and as I walk along the shores of 



194 ACE0S8 THIBET. 

this little lake, it sparkles almost as much as the moon, havings 
besides, a white halo of salt upon its banks. Our tent is pitched 
in a regular basin, while above us the lava has the appearance of 
a herd of cattle lying down, or of dark-plumaged birds waiting 
to swoop down upon some corpse. The stillness is unbroken 
until a camel, which is very thirsty, gets up and goes to drink, 
finding, much to his disappointment, that it is ice and not water 
on the surface. In due course he goes back and lies down 
beside his companions, and again the stillness is complete, except 
for the sort of humming sound in the ears peculiar to high 
altitudes. 

Owing to the dryness of the air, the light falls in floods upon 
the hollow where we have our camp, projecting my shadow 
clearly upon the salt, and when I get back to the tent, the 
thermometer marks 29° below zero. Prince Henry reminds 
Father Dedeken that they had come upon the traces of a wolf 
before turning in, and they suggest that, as I am up, I should go 
in search of it. 

January 6. — The thermometer marks 40° below zero, the 
point at which the mercury freezes, and there is still the west 
wind. We are surrounded to the northwest with lava apparently 
vomited from the mouth of a crater. 

Loading our animals and starting southward, we came upon a 
pool of water about twenty minutes afterward, at the sight of 
which, horses, camels, sheep, and dogs, got into a state of great 
excitement, only to find that the water was so salt and brackish 
that they could not drink it. The enormous quantity of salt had 
kept the water liquid, but the poor animals could not know this, 
of course, and some of our men thought that it might be hot 
springs, which had prevented it from freezing. 

I had omitted to say that we have given up looking for traces 
of the pilgrims, as the search gave more trouble than it was 
worth, and it may be that this route extends too much to the 
east, for we do not wish to come out by the grand route of 
Koukou Nor, followed by Fathers Hue and Gabet, and after- 



MAKING FOB THE TENGRI JSOR. 195 

ward by Prjevalsky. We are endeavoring to make the lake of 
Tengri Noi', trying to keep ratlier to its right than its left as we 
go southward. Marching on in front of the caravan as pioneers, 
my companions and myself do not intend to go after game except 
in so far as we require it for food and for our collections, our 
main object being to trace a route of our own without any sort 
of guide. 

In the evening we encamp about a quarter of a mile from a 
fine piece of water which we call " the Lake of Cones," because of 
the sliape of the mountains which surround it. We try to pierce 
the ice of a small pool to let the animals drink, but they cut 
themselves about the mouth. The horses remained for three 
hours munching the pieces of ice. 

January 7. — We crossed the ice of the Lake of Cones in forty 
minutes. The southwest end of it does not seem to be frozen, 
and it is about twelve miles long by two broad. After going 
over a rather steep pass, we descended into a very deserted v^alley, 
where Ave killed a few hares, which, if small, are of excellent 
flavor. During the last few days we have seen nothing of any 
big game, and yet there has been very little snow and a certain 
quantity of grass, such as it is. Their absence may be due to 
the persistent winds or the great altitude, the blast of the tem- 
pest and an altitude of 18,000 feet not constituting any great 
attraction. 

The day was cheerful, even for the most gloomy of our men, 
for the Doungane himself, since we came upon wood that had 
been fashioned by human hands, and upon saddle-bows for yaks, 
made of Juniper wood. This discovery led to all sorts of com- 
ments, and while they were being made the Doungane came up 
smiling, although he has had to abandon another of his camels 
to-day, and said that he has seen some argol which has been 
turned over, this being done so that it might dry, a proof that 
the men who have done this intend to return. He invited 
Abdullah and several of the other men to come and eat some of 
his dough, and congratulated himself upon the prospect of feting 



196 ACROSS THIBET. 

tlie Cliinese New Year, which is in thirteen days' time, under the 
shelter of a roof. 

These hopes improve the inorale of our men for a few days, 
but we know the old saying about " liope deferred," and it takes 
little to provoke a revulsion of feeling when men are worn out 
and cut off from the world of their fellows. 

January 8. — The scouts we sent out came back and told us 
that, beyond the second chain of mountains, there is a large lake. 
This we go and inspect to-day, to find that it is not frozen over, 
and that its western extremity is about twenty-five miles off. 
Judging by tke gaps we see in the midst of the mountains, we 
anticipate encountering a good many lakes, and it is only to be 
koped that they are frozen over, and that we shall not be obliged 
to go out of our way to get around them. 

We are at the mercy of the waves, so to speak, being on a 
boundless ocean, the billows of whick keep rising before us in 
the shape of mountains, and our troop is made up of a number 
of swimmers tired of breasting wave after wave only to find a 
higher one before them. 

After following a narrow valley, in which are a number of 
salt-water springs, we reached the extremity of the lake, which 
is gradually drying up, as we crossed what was formerly part of 
it, but which is now covered with a foot of salt. We imag:ined 
that we had got to the end of the lake, but upon breasting an 
eminence we recognized our mistake, as the kills had hidden 
from our view another stretck of water. We give the name of 
Montcalm to this fine piece of water, which extends from east to 
west for a length of forty-five or fifty miles. The islands and 
peninsulas prevent us from calculating its precise breadth, but 
we put it at from six to twelve miles. This water delights the 
eye, and gives one the illusion of the seashore, its aspect being 
particularly beautiful when, at sunset, the westerly wdnd causes 
its sparkling surface to undulate like the silvery scales of a fish, 

January 9. — Winding our way round Lake Montcalm toward 
the southeast, we saw a great many wild animals, such as yaks, 



LAKE MONTCALM. 197 

toiilanes, arkars, and even the chamois of the Himalaya, cheering 
up our men by pointing to the presence of animals which are 
indigenous to the frontiers of India. 

Beyond a small pass, we came upon some hot-water springs, 
but they were salt, and upon a frozen river which, as seen 
through the mist, appears to be flowing southeast through a vast 
plain. 

Can this be water running toward China? At once our 
thoughts revert to the sources of the great Blue River. We can- 
not say if we have lighted upon them, but in any case we can 
assert that it is somewhere in this direction that they must be 
sought. The idea that this ice feeds rivers which shed their 
Avaters in the Pacific Ocean seems to bring us back into contact 
with the world, for if our supposition is correct, all we should 
have to do would be to follow down the course of this stream to 
the coast. 

January 10. — We had to see after the feet of our camels and 
to shoe our horses. The minimum yesterday was 26° below zero, 
while last night it was only 1 3° below, and this morning 2° above 
zero, so to us the temperature seems delicious. 

In the afternoon. Prince Henry came back to camp for a 
camel to bring in the body of a yak which he had killed by 
lodging eight bullets in him. We took out the necessary instru- 
ments for skinning and cutting him up, and when we came upon 
him about three-quarters of a mile from the camp, found that 
he must be one of the seniors of Thibet, his muzzle being quite 
gray, his teeth worn, and his skin half tanned by age. It was 
no easy matter to skin him, and he was so heavy that it was as 
much as a camel could do to carry him. 

The sky was clouded over all day, and had very much the same 
appearance as in the region of the Lob Nor, this moisture of the 
air being due to the proximity of Lake Montcalm, off which the 
wind blows. 

Two of the horses died during the evening from having drunk 
too much water. It is fortunate they were the only two which 



198 ACEOSS THIBET. 

discovered tliese springs, or we should have lost them all. The 
camels are none the worse for having drunk ; but they have only 
been allowed a limited quantity, and our drivers think that the 
bladder has contracted with all our animals, and that the slightest 
excess of drinking will be fatal. Imatch holds that it will be 
better not to water the camels at the hot springs if we come 
upon any later. 

Janubary 12. — We are in a valley strewn with the bones of 
animals, such as arkars, koulans, yaks, orongos, and JSFemorhodus 
JE&wardi.^ We can only guess the cause of so many skeletons 
being assembled in one place. It may have been an epidemic, 
or a very severe winter, or it may be that the aged animals of the 
flock chose to come here to die. 

January 14. — We en(;amp at the foot of the pass which we 
shall have to scale in order to cross an enormous chain of moun- 
tains, which we name after that distinguished Frenchman, 
Dupleix. 

The enthusiasm excited by the discovery of the piece of wood 
wrought by human hands has quite subsided, for we are at a 
greater altitude than ever, some of the peaks beside our camp 
being at least 20,000 feet high, while for the last three days 
we have been groping for the path which will lead us to the 
other side of the chain, the solitude being deeper and weighing 
heavier than ever. There are numberless traces of wild 
animals and big game having been this way ; but they have 
all cleared off, as if at the word of command, and we see noth- 
ing but a woe-begone crow, which seems to follow us with in- 
terest. 

Our men are out of heart, for there seems to be no end to 
these lofty table-lands, and the west ^vind blows incessantly. 
Rachmed tries to cheer them up, and talks of India as if it were 
just round the corner ; but the conclusion of his discourse is very 

* A very interesting collection of animals, plants, etc., brought back by M. Bouvalot 
and his companions, has been exhibited during the summer and autumn in the Natural 
History Museum, Paris. — Translator. 



THE DUPLE IX MOUNTAINS. 199 

practical, for lie says, " We have plenty of provisions ; let us do 
like our horses, only look where we put cLowti our feet, and go 
marching on." 

January 15. — We cross a pass at about 16,500 feet, following 
a gentle slope, and to the west see the glaciers extending down 
to a valley, which we shall follow, marching over ice. In the 
mist we catch a glimpse of snowy peaks, which we calculate to 
be at least 36,000 feet high, and throughout the whole of this 
region there is a multiplicity of small lakes and pools. The 
hills, the soil of which is very friable, bear traces of the melting 
of the snows and of the inundations which follow, and there is 
abundance of ice. 

Jcmuary 16. — As we march over the frozen river, deep and 
broad, and its surface so slippery that our men can hardly keep 
their feet, we cannot help thinking that the Dupleix Mountains 
must be the origin of a great river, or, at all events, one of its 
principal sources. 

When the snow has fallen in the course of the next few 
months and the sun has come to melt it, there will be a tremen- 
dous inundation of the highlands, which will be traversed by 
rivers of liquid mud, a good deal of which will be left upon the 
Hanks of the hills; these deposits will remain there until the 
summer following, for winter arrests the flow of the river, when 
the sun acts, liquefying the solid masses, which gradually break 
away and come down lower each year. 

It is, of coiu'se, impossible to say positively, but my belief is 
that we are at the sources of the Yang-tse-Kiang. For some 
days past our men have been craving for the sight of their 
fellow-men, and all this because they caught sight of that bit of 
wood ; so they are constantly scanning the horizon, examining the 
soil, fancying they have discovered traces, and triumphantly 
announcing their " find " to the others, getting quite angry if 
you seek to prove that they are mistaken. I try to persuade 
them that they are wi'ong in desiring the presence of their fellow- 
men, that they have nothing good to expect from them, that it 



200 



ACBOSS THIBET. 



would be mucli better for us to be able quietly to continue our 
route, and that a few fat sheep, a little good drinking water, 
and an end of the west mnd would be worth any number o£ 
Thibetans. But my reasons do not impress them, and nothing 




THE BUSSY PEAK. 



will satisfy them but to see men. After three days' slipping 
and tumbling upon the surface of the river, which descends by a 
narrow defile, we come out upon a plain, in the best of spirits, 
for we have made two or three discoveries which put everybody 
in good heart. 

January 17. — We have found fossils at 19,000 feet, while 
about two o'clock I came, in a well-sheltered gorge, upon a cal- 
cined stone, standing by itself, with horse droppings all around. 
Lower down are other stones which have been placed side by 
side, for the lighting of a fire, which shows that man has been 
here. A fire has been lighted with argol and roots, while, as the 
snow has not covered the ashes, the fire must have been lighted 



TRAGES OF HUMAN BEINGS. 201 

recently. Then I saw, clinging to tlie rock, a fragment of tlie 
skin of the Megalo partridge, mth the feathers adhering to it, so 
shooters mnst have stopped here to take a meal, but they could 
not have passed the night, for there is no trace of any shelter hav- 
ing been erected. 

Our caravan came up soon after, and my pow.ers of description 
would fail to give an adequate idea of the unaffected delight of 
the men, Timour maintaining that the di'oppings are not more 
than three days old, and Isa declaring that the partridge feathers 
are also quite fresh. Abdullah, after an examination of the sticks 
and the ashes of the fii'e, exclaims that the men must be quite close. 

Parpa alone is pessimistic. He says it does not follow we shall 
soon encounter men, for when shooting parties come out, they 
often wander far away from all human habitations. He suggests 
that they may perhaps be watching us without oui" obser\4ng 
them. Still, he thinks it is a good sign, and as he can master a 
few words of Chinese, he manages to say a few words to the 
Dounganes, whose chief enters quite amicably into conversation 
with Abdullah, whom he was going to kill only a few days ago. 
To me he exclaims : '^ Adam ! Adam ! [Man ! Man !]," and when 
I ask him liis opinion, he is emphatic that the fire was not lighted 
more than foui' days ago, and, moreover, that it was not lighted 
by lamas, as it is theii' habit, when they leave a fire, to disperse 
the stones. 

When we had had om' confabulation, we started afresh with a 
much lighter gait, and Rachmed, who went off' in pursuit of par- 
trido'es, which he heard callino; to one another on the mountain 
and hills, came back to say that he had seen the site of another 
fire, while I observed an '' obo " on one of the summits. It is 
clear that men come into these parts, and I believe we should find 
them if we went more to the east. 

January 18. — We see monkeys crossing the frozen river and 
playing upon the rocks which form its banks. But we cannot 
kill one of these animals, which are very short, with red hair and 
almost imperceptible tail and small head. 



202 ACIWSti THIBET. 

We pitch our tents near tlie river, just at tlie issue of tlie defile 
tlirougli which it winds its tortuous way down from the Dupleix 
Mountains, and not far fi'om there, on the plateau, are the remains 
of a " yourt " of nomad Tliibetans. These consist of four small 
ovens with very rough masonry, the fragments of a bag made of 
yak wool, the site of a tent with pegs made of orougos' horns and 
the droppings of domesticated yaks smaller than those of the wild 
breeds. We catch a sight of wolves, and kill some red-footed 
hares, which we eat. And all this — monkeys, hares, the " yourt," 
the various tracks made by flocks, the plain which we are con- 
vinced we shall descry to the east when the snow ceases, the 
very snow, which is converted into excellent water, with the 
knowledge that we have descended to a rather lower altitude, 
and that the mnd is not so strong — revives the drooping spirits 
of our men. Yet this night the thermometer went down to 48° 
below zero, whereas on the previous days the minimum had not 
been more than 22°. 

Jamiary 19. — This morning we get some lark shooting and 
plainly see two valleys, one coming from the northeast and the 
other from the east, and converging at the point where we yester- 
day saw the monkeys playing on the river surface. At the foot 
of the mountain spurs, to the south of our camp, are some hot 
springs of drinkable watei' running over the ice, and in front is a 
level plain rising by very slow degrees to a tract of land, beyond 
which is a rather high mass of mountains. Fortunately the pres- 
ence of man in this region is beyond doubt, or else the view of 
this fresh range of mountains Avould have affected our men very 
unfavorably. 

It is surprising to see, in the midst of this plain of hot springs, 
cones of ice, twenty feet or more in diameter, about the height of 
a man and speckled over upon their surface — Avhich is just like 
crystals — with grit and stones from the plain ; these blocks have 
split perpendicularly like certain kinds of over-ripe fruit. We 
have before us frozen geysers, which have become covered with 
this solid headdress when their power of ejection was not sufficient 



f > 
• 



i% 



K 






^; 




THE CHINESE NEW YEAB. 205 

to cope witli the frost. We also come upon some fine roots of 
iabchanes wliicli form very fine bunches, and with these we 
make a very unsuccessful attempt to cook a palao. 

We should much like to eat some of the rice we have carried 
such a long way but it is impossible to cook it on account of the 
altitude, and our meat, of course, does not cook any better. It 
does not spoil, as it is so hard frozen that when we want to put 
a piece in the pot, we have to chop it as if it were a piece of 
wood, while the fat we eat for butter is as hard as a stone and 
might be used as a projectile. 

January 20. — The event of to-day is the discovery of the 
tracks of a horseman — tracks which are not new — and of a frao;- 
ment of a saddle made in a particular way, which Abdullah says 
must have belonged to a camel. This suggestion is scouted by 
Parpa, who is a saddler by trade, and is not at all fond of the in- 
terpreter. The merest trifles are fastened upon, as is the case 
with navigators in search of land, but, while these are mere sup- 
positions, we have as certain facts that the west wind does not 
go down or the cold decrease, the thermometer marking 27° 
below zero, that we are still going up and down hills, and that 
our animals are dying oif very fast, while those which survive 
are devoid of all strength. Our horses are incapable of the slight- 
est effort, and the camels are kept alive on dough and paste. The 
grass peculiar to the highlands is hard and ligneous — like zinc — 
and although the camels eat it, they are just as hungry as before, 
and it is necessary to hobble them to prevent them gnawing their 
saddles. We have ten camels and seven horses left, while the 
Doungane still has fourteen camels. 

There are plenty of yaks in this region, but they are very wild, 
and make off before we can get within fair shooting distance of 
them. 

January 21. — The Chinese New Year is celebrated with a 
certain amount of solemnity, thanks to a young stag shot by 
Kachmed. Its flesh is so good that we eat the whole of it, first 
raw, and then toasting slices of it on the argol. Isa is very funny 



206 ACROSS THIBET. 

witli liis thigh-bone covered with meat, for he holds it in his 
hand like a scepter, while he is talking. When he wants to eat 
a piece he holds it before the fire, tears oft* with his wolf -like 
teeth the part which has got cooked, and so continues as long as 
there is any left. 

(Tmmiary 22. — The men's attention is attracted by large leaves 
which prove to be those of the rhubarb plant, and yesterday 
Prince Henry saw some edelweiss. 

Numerous flocks and herds have lived in this remon durino^ the 
summer, under the care of shepherds, for we can distinguish the 
paths made in the soil between the encampment and the pool 
where they were wont to go and drink, and they have left be- 
hind them heaps of dung which w^e found useful for fuel. 

Around the old encampments we often see crows of a large 
size, with a crooked and large beak like that of the bigger birds 
of prey. They have very powerful claws, and instead of croaking 
like their Eiu'opean congeners, they emit harsh, cavernous, and 
vibrating sounds, like a lock that wants oil. This is why 
travelers have OTven them the name of " crows with a metallic 
croak," and though they doubtless are in the habit of coming to 
this place, we are evidently not the travelers they would like to 
see, for they nearly all make off after looking at us for a few 
minutes, 

I need say nothing about the scenery, for it is always the 
same — first a pass, then a valley, then a halt near a lake, then 
another pass, and so on. We are still in a desert, but it is a 
desert which has been inhabited, and this makes our men much 
more cheerful, for they argue that the difficulties cannot be more 
insurmountable for them that they have been for others. 

January 24. — Tsa, on his return from fetching the camels, 
j)oints southward, and says : " I have seen men in that direction ; 
I have recognized flocks of yaks and sheep," 

Timour and Rachmed start off at once to verify this state- 
ment, and the Avest wind announces a change of temperature, for 
it seems moister than usual, and as a hurricane of snow and dust 



MOUNTAINS EVERYWHERE. 207 

gets up, they come back without having been able to see any- 
thius". This unlooked-for moisture, and the diminution in the 
size of the snowflakes, lead us to believe that there are large lakes 
evaporating to the west of our route, and charging with vapor 
of water the winds which pass over them. 

Proceeding forward in these snowstorms, we came suddenly 
upon a frozen geyser about thirty-three feet in diameter, and 
then the sky cleared and we ^vere surprised to see a large herd 
of several hundred yaks roaming along the sides of the mountain, 
and feeding so quietly that we took them for domesticated 
animals, especially as we imagined we could see the shepherds 
looking after them. Having been able to get close to them 
without exciting their attention, we soon found that we were 
mistaken in thinking them tame, and when Prince Henry and 
Father Dedekeu tried to stalk them, they made off. I could not 
get a shot wheu I encountered them again at nightfall, though I 
fired just for the form of the thing. 

This evening our people say that the Doungane would do well 
to remove the little bell hansrino; from the neck of his camel, as 
it might attract the-notice of men. It was only the othei' day 
that they were longing for the company of their fellows, but now 
they have got a sort of idea that they are being watched by in- 
visible horsemen, childish as this fancy is. 

January 27.— The minimum on the night of the 24th, owing 
to the snow, was only 11° below zero, as against 31° the next 
night, but the west w^ind had fallen during the night only to get 
up again in the morning about ten. 

On the 26th we scaled rocks 18,300 feet high, and, looking iu 
front of us, could see as many mountains as from the summit of 
the Tach Davane, when we arrived on the high plateaus. One 
of our men expresses surprise at there being so many mountains 
in the Avhole world, to say nothing of Thibet. We came upon a 
flock of crows of ordinary size perched upon some rocks, and 
croaking Just as the birds which are found near to the dwellings 
of man do, so we are evidently near to human beings. 



•208 



AGBOSS THIBET. 



To-day (the 27tli) we descend a pleasant little valley with a 
gentle slope, and the presence of some rhubarb, dandelion, and 
grass leads us to believe that this place must be quite habitable 
during the summer. There are numerous paths leading to 







DISTANT VIEW OP THE " BIKOCLE " LAKE. 

abandoned encampments, and there can be no doubt that the 
Thibetans come and feed their flocks here durina^ the fine weather, 
passing the winter in warmer or more sheltered regions. My 
belief is that their winter encampments are not very far off. 

We go cheerfully on, and as the sun is shining brightly, and 
the wind does not blow in this little valley, we might imagine it 
to be spring-time. Down in the bottom, we see running water, 
and make a rush for it, finding it, to our delight, fresh and good 
to drink. It is a sight of which we have been deprived for a 
long time ; for up till now all has been dead upon the high 
plateaus, whereas to-day we seem to be assisting at the resur- 
rection of nature. Then, along the slopes of this valle}^, there is 
grass in abundance, while on a broad and sheltered terrace are 
great heaps of very dry argol. We find that this river is not 



RUNNING WATER. 



209 



frozen, because it is fed by numerous liot-water springs whicli are 
only slightly salt, and it contains a quantity of small fish, whose 
evolutions suffice to amuse us. Abdullah is in high glee, and 
will have it that we are at the sources of the Brahma-Pootra, and 
that all we have to do is descend the river and we shall arrive at 
Lhassa. He is brimming over with happiness, declaring that we 
have already made a journey which no one else has, that it is 
reaching its close, and that, for his part, you will never catch him 
ao'ain in this accm-secl Thibet. 

We cross to the right bank of the river, and, after going four 
or five miles, find that, as its banks graduall}^ get lower, it is 
frozen over and ends in a kind of lake, on the ice of which the 




WILD YAK. 



water trickles until it has become solidified. While the tent is 
being pitched, I go out to reconnoiter, and find that the river has 
a very broad bed, but that it becomes lost in rather a large lake, 
vi^hich it may possibly pass through after the thaw. On my 
return Abdullah questions me, and when he learns the truth, his 
face grows very long, and he moans : " We shall never find our 
way through ! " 

Nevertheless, the day is spent in rejoicings, for these parallel 
paths run in the same direction, viz., to the southeast, and they 



210 ACBOSS THIBET. 

must form a main route of coiumnnicatiou. All we need is to see 
men, in order to acquire tlie certainty tliat we are really on the 
road to Namtso (Tengri Nor) and Lhassa. Perhaps we shall 
come on them in a day or two, and then what will happen ? 

Jamiary 28. — We continue going downhill, much to our 
satisfaction, about six miles to the southeast, and have to shorten 
our stages in proportion to the forces of the men and the animals. 
The least imprudence would be fatal, and it is necessary to stop 
whenever we come upon grass or ice, of which there is such an 
abundance that there is no need to lay in a supply each morning 
for fear that we shall not have any at night. 

January 29. — Last evening we encamped at an elevation of 
15,700 feet, and to-day we are at 14,500. We get up a lottery 
to be won by the person who makes the nearest guesses at the 
date when we shall encounter the Thibetans, the periods selected 
varying from tw^enty days to four. 



CHAPTER IX. 



AMOISTG THE THIBETAISTS. 

" A Man is Coming " — Description of the First Thibetan Encountered — Thibetan Horse- 
men—Driving a Bargain— A Savage's First Sight of a Watch — Uncomplimentary 
Comments — On the Highroad to Lhassa— Getting Information under Difficulties — 
English and Eussians in Bad Odor — Lake Bourbentso — The Doungane Shovps his 
Seals — Silos— A Thibetan Interior — A Native Woman — Imatch Done Up — Prayers 
Engraved on Stones — Taking a Prisoner — Death of Imatch — In Sight of the Ning- 
ling Tanla and the Namtso. 

tfanuary 30.— Altliongh we get a little lower 
clown eacli day, tlie cold is still intense, the minimum 
of to-day being 31° below zero at an altitude of 14,200 
feet. Still we feel much lighter and walk much more 
freely ; while, as we have no longer to concern 
ourselves looking out for the route, we are 
able to examine more carefully the ridges of 
tlie hills, and see if there is any sign of move- 
ment or any spots resembling tents. 

January 31. — While the beasts are being 
loaded and we are sipping our tea in the tent, 
we hear shouts, and Abdullah comes 
---- rushing in, beaming with joy, and 
saying, " You can get out your purse 
and pay the winner : a man is coming." 
A¥e enjoin Abdullah to treat the 
stranger well, give him some tea, and 
take him up to the fire, trying to 
soften him down and coax what he 
can out of him. On the arrival of the Thibetan, he is greeted 
in Mongolian, and rejDlies in the same language, all the men 
crowding round him and speaking at once. Rachmed comes 
and tells us that he is ugl}' beyond description, and that the 
very bears are better-looking. AVhen we think that the ice has 

211 




THE FIRST THIBETAN ENCOUN- 
TEKED. 



212 AGEOSS THIBET. 

been broken we come out, Prince Henry witb his photographic 
apparatus in his hand; and our presence produces a certain 
effect upon our guest, as he rises when he sees us, calls us 
" bembo," that is to say, " chief," and, in order to salute us, lifts 
up his thumb and protrudes an enormous tongue. He is begged 
to sit down again, and we examine him while he is engaged in 
conversation with Abdullah, if conversation there can be when 
the two speakers have in common ten words of Mongolian and 
fonr of Thibetan. 

He is a very little man, with a clean-shaven face covered with 
a layer of grease and smoke, and furrowed by a great number 
of deep wrinkles. His eye, sunken in the orbit, is little more 
than a black spot beneath the swollen eyelids, with brown 
pupils. The face is made to appear shorter by long locks of 
hair which fall down upon the hollow cheeks ; the nose is large 
and the mouth toothless, with thick lips, and the square chin 
has no sign of hair. The man is weakly, and we can see that 
his hand is small and dirty, as he manipulates his snuffbox cut 
out of a piece of horn, shaking out some powdered red tobacco 
which he sniif s up into his nose. 

His dress is in keeping with his person, his headgear con- 
sisting of a strip of skin, which is wound round the forehead and 
fastened at the back, leaving the summit of the head bare. 
From the top hangs down a tress of hair, coming as far as the 
loins, and passed through two or three rings made of animals' 
bones. The owner of this tress must rub fat over it occasion, 
ally, for that portion of his attire which it rubs against is more 
greasy and shiny than the rest. Not that the sheepskin pelisse 
which covers his bare body is absolutely unclean, merely being 
rather greasy at the back. It would be difficult to say how 
long he has worn this pelisse, which is fitted to his figure and 
looped up, in order to facilitate his walking, by means of a cord, 
so that it forms an enormous fold at about the level of the waist, 
with a pocket, from which he extracts his snuffbox, and in which 
he puts the bread and piece of meat we give him. He also 
takes out from this pocket a hand spinning-wheel, the handle of 



FIRST THIBETAN ENGO UNTERED. 213 

which is made of polished orongo horn and the cross of wood 
which we take to be holly. His skinny legs are incased in a 
pair of woolen stockings split open at the calf and kept in their 
place by garters made of hemp, while, underneath, these stock- 
ings have a thick sole similar to that of the Spanish espadrille. 

While asking us as to our journey, the Thibetan takes frequent 
pinches of snuff or quietly spins the yak-wool which he has with 
him. By means of signs we explain to him that most of our 
horses and camels are dead, and that the five or six sheep left 
have only been alloAved to live because there is nothing to eat on 
them, and we ask him to sell us butter, horses, and sheep. In 
response to this, he invites us to follow him to his tent, which is 
beyond the rock visible in a westerly direction. 

We thank him for his kindness, but beg to be excused, be- 
cause we are going to the southeast. Then, with the falsity and 
impudence of the savage, he endeavors to dissuade us from this by 
saying that Lhassa is not in that direction, but to the west, ask- 
ing us, incidentally, and clasping his hands in a reverential attitude, 
if we are going to offer prayers to the Tale Lama. We tell him 
that we are, and heathen again urges us to come and stay for a 
little in his encampment, w^here we shall find all kinds of pro- 
vision and grass for our beasts. 

While we are discussing this, we see several flocks descending 
the slopes of the hills, escorted by men on horseback, who come 
toward us. The old man then gets up as if to go, but we offer 
him another cup of tea, and show him some " iambas " (bars of 
silver), which we will give him in exchange for sheej). He calls 
out to a shepherd, who comes trotting up, and explains what we 
propose, whereupon the latter drives his flock toward us. This 
second shepherd does not seem to us to be as old as the first, 
rather taller, and quite as thin. We are struck by the brusque- 
ness of his movements, his irregular gait, his short, quick steps, 
and a peculiar way of throwing out the knee, giving him the ap- 
pearance of a being with a human body and the legs of a goat. In 
fact he reminds me of the offspring of a minotaur with his broad 
long head, his short, snub nose, salient cheek bones, large mouth 



214 ACBOSS THIBET. 

from which protrude two teeth that keep the thick lips con- 
stantly apart, aud pronounced lower jaw. 

He leans upon a long, sharp-pointed lance, which he grasps in 
a hand black with dirt, and having fingers of nearly equal size, 
while round the waist he carries a sword, the sheath of which is 
made of wood with iron plates, while the blade is rather notched. 
In order that it may not interfere with his movements on the 
march, he carries this sword horizontally, and he also has slung 
over the back a short gun, of small caliber, terminating in a prong 
made of orongo horn. The stock is short and square, in the 
shape of Oriental weapons, and the gun is fired by means of a 
fuse, the lance seeming the more formidable of his weapons. 
Pending the arrival of the flock of sheep, the two Thibetans have 
a talk, and feel the weight of our bags and chests, and they 
would carry their indiscretions still further if we did not, in 
jest, flourish a revolver at them. This weapon takes off their at- 
tention, and they examine its six chambers with manifest surprise, 
being much astonished at the size of the bullets. When they see 
that all our men carry a leather case round their waists, they 
imagine that each of them has his revolver. 

The man with the lance asks us if we are from Bomba and 
Calacata (Bombay and Calcutta), and when we say no, but that 
we are people from the West, they express their satisfaction ; ex- 
plaining that they are not friends with the people of Bomba and 
Calacata by joining their two thumbs nail to nail. 

In the meanwhile the flock of sheep has come up, in charge of 
two lads as dirty as their seniors, and in the distance is another 
person on horseback, whom we find upon looking through the 
glass to be a young woman. She is very small, clad in a sheep- 
skin pelisse coming down to the heels, and bareheaded, her face 
beino; hidden in the tresses of her hair. She seems to us to have 
her cheeks l^lackened with some kind of ointment. 

A lad having failed to catch with the lasso one of the sheep in 
the flock which his master picks out, the latter takes it from him 
and, with surprising quickness, throws it round the horns of a 
ram. This animal has very fine, silky wool, and a small and well- 



DRIVING A BARGAIN. 215 

shaped head, but we reject him, as the flesh would be hard and 
stringy. The Thibetans are amused at our knowing a good 
sheep from a bad one, and having, like all savages, first tried to 
deceive us, show us some fat young sheep, which they secure 
with the lasso. We pay them in silver bars weighed in Chinese 
scales, and they examine both the silver and the scales very care- 
fully, and rub the silver with a stone, to see that it contains no 
lead. Then they break off little bits and put them in their 
mouths, trying to coax us into giving a few grains more. They 
are very greedy, and when we exchange a horse which is much 
done up for three sheep, they bargain in a way that shows they 
are not easily " got over." 

We offer to pay them high prices for suitable animals, and 
they promise to bring us some to-morrow, showing us at the 
same time the ponies they are riding. These are ponies with long 
coats, such as are bred in the countries of the north, with rather 
short, powerful heads ; and when we observe their depth of 
chest and strong necks, we do not wonder at their going along so 
well on their well-made legs. Their masters ride them with a plain 
halter, never using ^ bit, their gestures and whip answering every 
purpose. These ponies, though they will let their masters do any- 
thing with them, are frightened by our strange attire, and will 
not allow us to come near them and examine their saddles, which 
are of wood, with very short stiiTups not coming below their bel- 
lies, so that the rider sits with his knees on the level of his 
stomach. 

After having completed our purchases, we get ready for a 
start, the Thibetans remainiuo; with us and feelino; the canvas of 
the tent and the texture of our garments, Avliile the English sad. 
dies puzzle them not a little, as they turn them round and round. 
They want us to explain to them how we use our weapons, and 
are astounded at the distance to which a bullet from the Berdan 
rifle carries, though it is clear that the revolvers make the deepest 
impression upon them. 

We put a watch up against the ear of one of the lads, and he 
is delighted to hear it tick. He looks at the hands, too ; but it 



216 ACROSS THIBET. 

is the beating of tlie lieart within that chiefly excites his wonder. 
We take advantage of his friendly attitude to ask him in what 
direction Lhassa lies, and he points not to the west, like his father, 
but to the southeast. We reward him with a bit of sugar, to 
which these people have taken a great fancy, though they would 
have liked to have the canvas of our tent, and some tea and to- 
bacco. Having found that we should not go westward, where, 
as they say, their tents are, they make off toward the plain with 
their flocks, whistling and swinging their lassos. 

It is curious to hear the reflections of our men as soon as they 
have gone. A few days ago you might have sworn that they 
would have taken any of their fellow-men into their affections, 
but now they make the most uncomplimentary comments on the 
ugliness and dirtiness of these natives, their greed, and theu^ sus- 
piciousness. The young woman is described as a monster with 
her besmeared face, and it is only the sheep and horses which are 
exempt from unfavorable criticism. Nevertheless, the moral tone 
of our men has been improved, and the downheartedness and 
despair engendered by solitude have disappeared, as I can see this 
evening when our tent is pitched in the middle of a river-bed 
partly dry. The men are anxious to guard against being taken 
by surprise and attacked at night, and the tents are placed in a 
triangular shape, so that a lookout may be kept in all directions, 
while the horses and camels are hobbled and placed in the center 
of the camp. Arms are examined and well greased, and we shall 
sleep with our guns out of their cases. For have we not come 
again upon our brethren, part of the great human family ? 

We are on the highroad to Lhassa ; of that there can be no 
doubt, and the certainty will save us a great deal of trouble, for 
the further we go the better marked the route will be. The 
worst part of the business is that our animals are nearly done 
up, and that several of our men have great difliculty in advan- 
cing. Old Imatch is the worse, his feet being frost-bitten. One 
of his big toes is nearly dropping off, and his sores are so dread- 
ful that it is a wonder he can keep on his horse. He is con- 
stantly suffering from mountain sickness, and we can do nothing 



ON TEE HIGHROAD TO LEA88A. 217 

to relieve it, for what he needs is his native steppe on the level 
of the sea, which he will probably never see again. 

If we could only come upon a suitable spot to halt and nurse 
him ! But the ^vhole of this region is the same ; it is a lofty 
steppe, inhabited by a few wretched nomads, with the west wind 
ever bloAving, Our stages are short ; for, although the route is 
as good as could be desired, we cannot go more than twelve 
miles a day without fatiguing poor Imatch, while Abdullah is a 
bad walker, and Parpa is so weak that he can scarcely follow 
the camels. 

If we had a few vigorous and determined men, we might, by a 
coiq^ de main, seize as many of the Thibetans' horses as we re- 
quire, load them, and march direct on Lhassa. But there are not 
enough of us, and we must resign ourselves to dragging along 
and awaiting more favorable circumstances. 

February 1. — This morning, with a west wind and a cloudy 
sky, we came in sight of a flock of yaks and sheep making for 
the region we had just traversed. Not one of them came our 
way, and perhaps some kind friend had told them we want 
animals of different kinds and are armed to the teeth ! 

Just as we were loading and about to start, not reckoning that 
our friends of yesterday would bring us the animals Ave offered 
to buy, five horsemen appeared in sight, pulled up at a distance 
of two or three hundred yards, put the horses in charge of one 
of their number, and came on foot into our camp. We recognize 
the little old man of yesterday, and he again very politely puts 
out his tongue, being imitated by his companions, whom we had 
not seen before. One of them has an aquiline profile, his pig- 
tail being ornamented with agates, inferior turquoises, and copper 
rings, while his pelisse is edged with panther-skin. These people 
place at our feet a small jar of milk, which emits an odor suffi- 
cient to prevent any of us making a rush for it, as well as a pat 
of rancid butter rolled up in a piece of skin, and a small bag of 
zamba, or roasted barley-meal. 

They examine us with great curiosity, are very reserved in 
their replies to our questions, and display remarkable rapacity. 



218 ACBOSS THIBET. 

The old man, whom we ask about the horses he has promised 
us, says that there are none, they having gone oft' westward. We 
can get nothing out of these fellows, who pretend not to under- 
stand whenever we pronounce the names of Lhassa, Namtso, or 
Mngling Tanla. Fortunately, one of the four is less suspicious 
or more intelligent, and while the three others are having their 
attention drawn off, we enter into negotiations with this poor 
wretch, who is barely clad, and has the prolile of a negro, with 
scarcely perceptible eyes, and the forehead of a child. We 
begin by oifering him a lump of sugar, one or two dried apri- 
cots, and some raisins, all of which he thinks delicious. Then 
we tell him that we are going to offer prayer to the Tale-Lama, 
whereupon the fervent Thibetan at once throws his cap to the 
ground, falls on his knees, clasps his hands, and turns by instinct 
in the direction of Lhassa, as he mumbles his " Om mane Padume 
houm," which we repeat after him. We explain that all the 
contents of our chests are for the Tale-Lama, and he at once ap- 
proves of this, nothing being too good for that divinity, but he 
at the same time stretches out his hand and makes a gesture as 
of eating. So we give him some more apricots, and crack the 
stone of one, showing him how to get at the kernel. He imitates 
the operation, and makes a movement of satisfaction with his 
tongue. 

We, then, pointing to the direction in which he was prostrating 
himself just now, whisper : 

"Lhassa?" 

And he, first looking to see whether his companions are 
watching him, makes an affirmative motion with his head. We 
then said to him, in Thibetan, " How many days to Lhassa ? " 
But he, instead of answering, put out his hand for a piece of 
sugar, then, having hidden himself behind our tent, traced on 
the sand a curved line in a southeasterly direction, and, taking 
some argol, placed it at the end of the line, and said, putting his 
finger on the argol, " Lhassa." 

Then we spoke to him about the great salt deposit of Bour- 
bentso, as it is called on the maps, and which he pronounced 




TALKINCx OVER THE FIRST THIBETANS. 



GETTING INFORMATION UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 221 

" Boultso " ; whereupon lie placed another piece of dung on the 
curved line. When we pronounced the name of ISTamtso (the 
Tengri Nor of the Mongolians), he put an argol upon the curved 
line a little further ; and when we suddenly say, " Ningling 
Tanla," he falls on his knees, places an argol to the south of 
Lake Namtso, and prays fervently to the holy mountain. He 
gets up and puts out his hand for another and yet another apri- 
cot, and, by way of thanking us, opens a mouth like that of a 
crocodile, from which emerges a massive tongue like that of an 
ox, covering the whole of his chin. Father Dedeken thinks it 
would fill the whole of an ox-tongue tin. 

He is gradually getting more familiar, and in reply to our 
inquiries says it is three days' journey to Boultso, eight to 
Namtso, and twelve to Lhassa. 

If he is speaking the truth, as seems probable, his estimates 
refer to the time he himself took on the journey, not to the time 
we should take. We find it difficult to get rid of him, so greedy 
is he for more apricots ; but he goes at last, and, despite the 
amiable invitation of the Thibetans to visit their camp to the 
west, we follow the route leading southeast. It traverses the 
steppe coated with snow ; and as the horizon is misty, we see no 
high chain, only ridges divided by valleys, in which domesticated 
flocks are roaming not far from wild animals. Now and again 
we catch a glimpse of black tents, and over them '' prayers " 
fluttering from the end of a pole ; but we do not approach any 
of these dwellings, as they are some way off the road. 

February 2, — A body of horsemen, well mounted, and all of 
them armed, after watching us from a distance, draw near. 
Greetings are exchanged, and we try to persuade them to sell us 
some horses. They look at the silver, but do not reply, so, being 
anxious to know what they mean, we take possession of an 
animal which would suit us. Its owner remains mth us, but the 
others go off ; and when we name a price, the Thibetan refuses, 
explaining that the " bembo," or chief, would punish him if he 
sold the horse without permission. So we let him go, after 
having made him a present and urged him to bring us plenty of 



222 ACROSS THIBET. 

" zamba " for our animals. He replies that he will be willing 
enough, but that only the " bembo " can decide. 

Fehruary 3. — Two natives come to offer us some dried sheep 
carcasses, and after a good deal of preliminary fencing we obtain 
information. According to one of these men, the route goes 
through the plain as far as Ningling Tanla, and there is plenty of 
grass, ice, and snow. He seems to be unusually intelligent, as he 
endeavors to let Father Dedeken understand him by pronouncing 
with great distinctness the names of the places he mentions. He 
was rendered thus loquacious by the present of a handglass ; 
and the promise of a small chromo-lithograph if he spoke the 
truth stimulated his desire to be of use. As he rode along by 
our side, we passed some camel-droppings, and on our asking 
him what these were, he replied, " Tangout," this being the 
name given to the Kalmucks ; so that we have come again upon 
the traces of our pilgrims at the same time that we have dis- 
covered the highroad. He gave us to understand that there is no 
more direct route than this to Lhassa. One soon gets used to 
these barbarian physiognomies, for we begin to detect intelli- 
gence in this vendor of dried meat. As he accompanied us to 
our bivouac, and night set in, we invited him to stay with our 
men, but he preferred going off to his " Mim " (dwelling), after 
letting his horse browse on a few roots of grass. The moon 
was up, and he pointed to it, as much as to say he should be 
able to find his way. He thanked us effusively, mth uplifted 
thumbs and protruding tongue, for all the presents we had given 
him ; and when we gave him back the meat we did not want, 
and told him to keep the price of it, he prostrated himself and 
explained that our generosity was well placed, because " those 
you saw yesterday are the chiefs and I am poor." So there are 
rich and poor everywhere. 

With bright moonlight and a light westerly breeze, we have a 
' minimum of 24° below zero, and no longer camp in sheltered cor- 
ners, but on elevated places, where we at once command the plain, 
and are sufficiently removed from the heights to have time to fire 
several shots at horsemen who might gallop down on us. • 



ENGLISH AND RUSSIANS IN BAD ODOR. 223 

Our dogs form excellent watclimen, and keep us informed of 
all tliat is going on in the camp. One of them, a mastiff with a 
long red coat, is in the habit of sleeping at a distance of over 300 
feet from the camp, and of keeping on the watch all night, so 
that he would warn the two bassets set to look after the tents. 
These excellent animals seem to have understood the importance 
of their task, and will not let any Thibetan come near without 
our permission, so we can sleep in perfect peace. 

February 4. — This morning their barking announced the ap- 
proach of some twenty horsemen, who halted at a distance of 
about a third of a mile, pitched their tent, unsaddled their hoi^ses, 
and settled themselves in. Two of them came toward us, but the 
dogs kept them at a distance, and they sat down and made signs, 
as if to ask for an audience. The dogs having been called in, one 
of them opened the conversation in Mongolian with Abdullah, 
who had been taught what to say ; and -^vhen the Thibetans 
asked where we came from, he replied, ^' From the North." 

" Where are you going ? " 

" In search of a good place." 

" What are you-doing ? " 

" We have come on the chase, and we have been led on toward 
the south. Our horses and camels are dying of hunger, and even 
some of our men have died. A¥e are very fatigued, and should 
like to rest." 

" Stay here." 

" Here, and eat the stones ! Until we have found a good 
place we shall not stop." 

" What is your country ? " 

" We are men of the West." 

" You are Pa-Lang, no doubt ? " 

"No." 

" Ah, if you are Pa-Lang, I shall get into trouble if I let you 
pass. Come and talk with me in my tent." 

" I must ask permission of my chiefs." 

Abdullah came and told us what had occurred, and received 
permission to go and converse with the ambassadors, though he 



224 ACROSS THIBET. 

was strictly cautioned to keep a watcli over his words and to ap- 
pear ignorant wlien asked any awkward question. On his re- 
turn he reported that the men said that on the first day of our 
arrival they sent a letter to Lhassa asking for orders, and that 
the reply had come : 

" If they are Pa-Lang [that is, English or Russian] let them 
not come further, but let them be supplied with what they re- 
quire for returning. If they are not Pa-Lang, ask them for 
their passport and send them on to Lhassa." 

The Thibetan chief expressed a wish to have an interview with 
the chief of our party, but Abdullah put him oft' by saying that 
his chief was taking his rest ; adding, " When he is ready, I will 
inform you, and then you can come and bring him some butter." 
When the Thibetan chief did come, Abdullah said, " You are too 
petty chiefs to converse with ours ; but if you will sell some 
horses, we will buy them of you; if not, you may be off." 
Whereupon they went off without saying anything, and sat down 
about a hundred yards away. 

In the meanwhile we packed our things and went on our way, 
arriving by a pass of 15,700 feet upon a plateau, at the foot cf 
which, to the east, is a rather large lake, which we supposed to 
be the " Boultso," as the shores are covered with salt, and we 
had been told the water of this lake was so salt that one could 
not keep it in the mouth. 

We closed in as we drew near this lake, for numerous detach- 
ments of armed horsemen appeared on the ridges, some of whom 
were coming toward us. Once altogether, we encamped to the 
west of the lake, near a frozen spring, the water of which is 
drinkable, and which receives the downpour from the hills, where 
most of the Thibetan horsemen are going to pass the night. 
They will be about a third of a mile from us, and we can see 
them lighting their fires and wandering about the plain to pick 
up argol. 

The Boultso, or Bourbentso, runs back into the mountains, 
where it seems to form gulfs. So, at least, we judge by the sun, 
which transforms it into a picturesque enlarged lake of Lucerne. 



LAKE B0URBENT80. 



225 



But this view is incorrect, for it is evident that we are the victims 
of mirages, and that the water we fancy we can see in the dis- 
tance does not exist. 

The Bourbentso is a vast salt-pit enveloping what remains of 
a lake, judging by what is seen on the banks. At the foot of the 
platform which was formerly perhaps the shore to which the 




TENT AT BOURBENTSO. 



water attained, we find the traces of numerous camels, and by the 
footmarks it is clear they must have remained several days. It 
is probable that the Torgutes sojourned here and pastured their 
animals, for the grass is cropped very close, and ours do not find 
anything to eat. There is, moreover, a total lack of snow. 

When we unload, the Thibetans come close up, and we recog- 
nize among them the meat-vendors of the previous day, but we 
pretend not to see them, and leave the dogs to keep them at a 
distance. So they return to their rocks, where they will pass 
the night. They walk along very slowly, in conversation, and I 
have no trouble in catching them up, being anxious to get a 



326 



ACEOSS THIBET. 



close view of them and to make the acquaintance of the old 
man whom our interpreter describes as their chief. He is a 
little, old man, dressed like his subordinates and quite as dirty^ 
but he has a nose which seems as if it were formed of three 
enormous mulberries, one representing the tip, and the two others 




THIBETANS AT BOURBEKTSO. 



the nostrils. This magisterial appendix, flanked by two small 
but intelligent eyes, does not prevent good-nature from being 
depicted upon his face, over Avhich grows a natural wig, remind- 
ing one of that worn by the Grand Monarque. We look at 
each other with keen interest, and having greeted Mongolian 
fashion, " Sen Bene, Sen Bene ! " I give him my card, in the 
shape of a lump of sugar. He eyes me, nnunbling something I 



' ' SGHOLASTIGUS. " 227 

■caunot catch, and bis companions, whenever I look at tliem, turn 
tlieir eyes away with alarm. One of them atti'acts my special 
attention, for he is thin and lanky, with hair hanging down his 
cheeks, an elongated neck, and emaciated face — quite the type 
of the " scholasticus " in the farces of the Middle Ages. I can 
scarcely help laughing when I look at him ; but he is stiff and 
upright, and turns his face away from mine, half in terror, half 
in disgust, muttering " Pa-Lang, Pa-Lang," as if I were some 
sort of unclean animal. They look at me again for a moment, 
and then make off with the short rapid steps which are peculiar 
to them, while their looped-up pelisses flap against their thighs 
like petticoats. 

February 5. — The cold is still intense, the minimum of last 
uio'ht beino' 22° below zero ; but the wind has 2;one down. This 
morning the old chief with a Louis XIV. head of hair returns, 
escorted by tAventy Thibetans. He again explains to the inter- 
preter what a delicate position he is in, and that he will be 
punished if he lets us through. Why could we not await the 
orders from Lhassa in a nice place where we should get grass, 
fresh meat, water, and everything we could desire ? He would 
like to present his respects to us in person ; but we decline to 
receive him until he has sold us some horses. We want them, 
and if he is well-disposed, that is the best way of showing it. 
To this he replies that he will sell or even give us sheep, but 
that he dares not let us have horses without an order. 

Father Dedeken then goes to see him, and the old man offers 
him three lumps of fat sewn up in a skin, which he places upon 
a light piece of stuff (called " of happiness ") spread upon the 
ground, putting the other end of the stuff upon Father Dedeken's 
knee. The latter asks him if this salt-pit is really the Bourbentso, 
and the old man taps him on the arm, as much as to say, " Don't 
make fun of me ; you know the country as well as I do." 

He is very puzzled to know what to make of us, for we have 
no Thibetans in our troop, and we have arrived by a route which 
he does not know himself, while we have no guide, and our band 
is composed of men of all races and kinds. We go along without 



228 ACROSS THIBET. 

asking our way, halting near the ice at places where others have- 
already encamped, as if we were going over the ground for the 
second time. He then goes to tlie Doungane, and shows him 
documents, with Chinese seals affixed to them, which confer upon 
him the police powers he exercises. Then, thinking to touch our 
camel-di'iver in a weak point, he adds : 

"You say that you are Chinese, but every respectable China- 
man travels mth his papers in order, and cannot leave the camels 
without the permission of his mandarins. There is no saying 
what your antecedents are." 

This is too much for the Doungane, who pounces upon the 
bag in which his papers are put away, unfolds them, and puts 
them under the nose of the old Thibetan. 

" There ! Have you any such papers as these ? Now do you 
believe that I am an honest man ? Compare your papei's with 
mine. Your papers are those of a nobody — mine are very dif- 
ferent. My seals are double the size of yours, and my passports 
were delivered by great mandarins, but your diploma does not 
signify anything. By what right do you meddle with my affairs, 
or dare to speak in such a way to a man who has in his j)0sses- 
sion passports with seals of this size ? " 

The argument of the seals is too much for the Thibetan, who 
goes oft' dumfounded. It is evident that these people do not 
know who we are, and that they will not come to any decision 
until they do. It is to our advantage not to enlighten them, as 
we can do without their assistance. 

So we march on through the bare steppe and climb a range of 
hills, near the summit of which we encamp, beside a pass and not 
far from an abundant spring which descends in the form of ice 
toward the eastern part of the valley. On the other side of the 
ice we see a black tent ; and as it is the first we have come within 
reach of, we go to have a look at it, being greeted by the bark- 
ing of four black dogs, which show their teeth, and would 
attack us but for being called off by two men who come out of 
the tent. One of the men is very old, and is led by the other, Avho 
is very diminutive. The elder, bent by years, has a head which^ 



A THIBETAN TENT. 231 

with its close-cropped gray hair, reminds me of the Diogenes of 
Velasquez. He has small weak eyes, out of which he can scarcely 
see, and he takes Father Dedeken for a Chinaman, and greets him 
with the word " Loie." His companion is a girl of about eight, 
\v\io would perhaps be pretty if she were cleaner ; but it is evi- 
dent that she has never been washed, her round face, with its 
imperceptible nose, being a mixture of black and yellow. Her 
dress is a sheepskin, with a piece of wool to tie it in at the waist ; 
and she carries a small knife in her belt. Bareheaded like the 
old man, she wears her hair loose down her back, with a plait 
twisted over the forehead. 

We reconduct the aged lama — for such we recognize him to 
be by his close-cropped hair — back to his dwelling, and, after we 
have given him some dried fruits, we begin to converse. He as- 
sures us that the salt-pit near which we encamped yesterday was 
the Bourbentso, and he tells us that the chain of mountains is 
called the Bourbentsore, and that the Namtso is at four days' 
march by a very easy route. This poor old man is very amiable, 
and we ask him for some milk, as we see that he has numerous 
yaks feeding lower down, but he says the grass is so bare that 
they are now nearly dry. 

Their tent is made of a sort of black wool, and it is rectangu- 
lar, covering about four square yards, and kept up at the corners 
by pegs that are attached to other pegs by means of long ropes 
which can either be pulled taut or loosened as required. The 
black mass from which all these ropes are stretched has the aspect 
of a vast spider with an eye in the back, this being the 
opening for the smoke at the back. The door of the tent 
is to the east, owing to the prevalence of westerly winds, pro- 
tection against which is afforded by a high wall of argol, which 
is much used for constructions of various kinds. 

While looking over this domain we observe what appear to be 
round ovens, or towers coming about up to one's waist. These 
are silos, constructed of argol on the level of the soil, probably 
because it would be difficult to dig into it, and they contain bits 
of stuff, tufts of wool, and even headdresses high in shape and 



232 ACROSS THIBET. 

witli broad brims, while yak-skins are spread out near the tent, 
close to small round pots of red earth. Slabs of schist, with 
prayers engraved on them, are deposited behind the tent ; that is 
to say, in the direction of the west wind, which prays to them as 
it goes b}^ 

Some distance oft' is the site of an abandoned tent, which 
enables us to form an idea of what a Thibetan interior is like. 
The stones are put together in squares at the bottom, and form a 
sort of substructure for the tent. In the center is an oven made 
of clay and flat stones, while in the corner is a box for holding argol, 
where we in France should have one for wood. The saddle and 
mill are of the most primitive kind, and among other objects are 
a basket made of withes and the skull of a yak converted into a 
vase. A few round stones have been used as a pestle or a ham- 
mer, while the objects the owners have wished to keep and use 
again on their return have been put away in one of the silos. 
Another of the silos contains a great many droppings of lambs, 
and it is doubtless in these silos that the lambs are placed un- 
der shelter, while their parents sleep in the open. 

Februm'y 6. — The light being bad yesterday, it was not till 
this morning that Prince Henry could photograph this dwelling, 
and the operation was a more complicated, one than might be 
imagined, for it was necessary to keep clear of the dogs and, if 
possible, get a portrait of the inhabitants.""'^' We have great dif- 
ficulty in beating off the angry dogs, when a man with a long 
nose and a very high forehead comes out and calls them off by 
throwing them bits of dried yak ; and while we are getting the 
apparatus ready, a woman's head peers out from behind the cur- 
tain of the tent. She is quite a caricature of a human being, her 
profile being that of a monkey, just touched up so as to make it 
slightly resemble a woman. By dint of giving her plenty of 
raisins, peaches, and apricots, we got her to put out the rest of 
her body, and, urged on by the old man whose acquaintance we 
made yesterday, she stands at the door holding her daughter by 

* M. BoQvalot does not say the occupants of the tent had returned during the night, 
but this is to be inferred.— Translatok. 



A NATIVE WO^fAN. 



233 



the hand. She is very diminutive in stature, and clad of course 
in sheepskin. Her eyes are horizontal, and the globe is a mere 
speck of brown merged in a very dark-stained scelerotica almost 
as brown ; the cheek bones 
are prominent, the chin 
broad and protruding, She 
keeps her mouth open, her 
thick lips being puckered up^ 
so that she has a good- 
humored but unintelligent 
smile. Her hair, separated 
on the forehead, falls down 
over her cheeks and back 
in small tresses ornamented 
with stones and shells, and 
tied together at the extremi- 
ties with a bit of ribbon. 
She cannot be called good- 
looking, but we have suc- 
ceeded in winning-her good 
will and that of the men of 
her family, for when we give 
her another bit of sugar, she 
and the man stretch out 
their thumbs and clasp their 
hands, this being their way 
of saying a friendly good-by. 

Aftei' going eastward along the chain of Bourbentsore, we 
made a bend to the southeast, where we came upon the route 
which we had momentarily lost sight of, and encamped in a 
valley near some tents, where we met with a rather unfriendly 
reception from both men and dogs. We succeeded, however, in 
getting a little argol ; but as to milk, it was impossible to obtain 
a drop, the yaks not yielding any. 

It is high time, nevertheless, that the Tliibetans should show 
US a little good-will, for old Imatch is quite done up. He can- 




t^ 



A PETTY CHIEF. 



234 ACROSS THIBET. 

not stand, and can only creep along on his knees. He lias to be 
helped on to liis liorse, and yesterday lie begged us to abandon 
him on the route, saying that he was doomed and could be of 
no further use to us. We do the best we can, but are powerless 
to relieve him. Parpa has fallen down several times during the 
day's march, and we have had to go and fetch him with a camel 
at a hundred yards from the bivouac, which he could not reach. 
Little Abdullah is not much better ; he can only get along by 
holding on to the girth of a camel, and is incapable of carrying 
his gun. We absolutely must have horses, and shall seize them 
at the first opportunity. 

February 8. — Last night a southwesterly wind blew with 
great violence, and this morning our men complained of head- 
ache and singing in the ears, while Imatch and the others who 
are ill groan lamentably. So we start in poor spirits for the 
pass, the summit of which is indicated by an obo. 

Orders have no doubt been sent to the Thibetans, for the 
flocks have been dispersed since daybreak, and we cannot get 
within reach of the horses ; while in the tents we pass there are 
only old people, women, and children, the men, with their arms, 
having made off. It is evident that a void is being made around 
us, and while so far we have been very gentle in our dealings, 
we must now resort to other methods. 

At the foot of the pass, near the ice of a stream, we saw three 
men eating zamba, which they were cooking at an argol fire. 
We went up to them and asked for a horse for a sick man. 
They feigned not to understand, and would not even look at the 
money we offered them ; but as their horses were close by, we 
took one for Parpa, and kept them at a distance with our re- 
volvers. 

February 9. — During the night the sheep purchased from the 
first lot of Thibetans were stolen. We are determined that 
whenever we require fresh meat we will take it. 

The pass is 17,300 feet, and the descent an easy one, leading 
to a valley in which we see, for the first time, white tents, occu- 
pied by armed men. As soon as they notice us they run off to- 



PRATERS ENGRAVED UPON STONES. 235 

collect tlieir horses, which are roaming about. At the foot of 
the pass we see — also for the first time — a large number of 
prayers engraved upon the stones, as described by Father Hue, 
on the highroad of the pilgrims. So it is clear we are drawing 
near to the holy city. 

I should have mentioned that on the 8th about forty armed 
horsemen hovered about our camp, and the old man with the 
bulbous nose, who speaks Mongolian, came with another chief 
better dressed than himself, and almost clean. He begged us to 
halt, " for our lives were at stake." We asked him to cease 
joking at a time when two of our men were very ill. 

Climbing another pass, we can see from the top, despite the 
mist and the dust, a corner of the great lake below us ; and to 
the south, much further up, some white peaks, which seem to 
emerge from a formidable chain, not impossibly the Niugling 
Tanla. We are approaching a group of mountains, the passes 
are more numerous, and the route follo^vs valleys a mile or two 
wide, the country having the aspect of the Pamir. 

The west wind tries us very much, but, nevertheless, it seems 
to us as if winter were about to end, for we have seen a flight 
of pigeons and another of sparrows. There is abundance of 
koulanes and antelopes, and we notice a number of small lakes 
which are gradually drying up, their shores being white with 
salt. 

February 10. — We are now in a steppe covered in many 
places with stones, and with grass here and there ; while scaling 
yet another pass, we again come upon very distinct footmarks of 
camels dating from last year. 

February 11. — We traverse a valley which is a marsh during 
the rainy season, and in the course of the march receive a visit 
from a Thibetan chief who seems to us to be tipsy. He wears 
a red cloak and boots of the same color, carrying in his hand a 
prayer-mill with plates of silver on it, which he turns incessantly. 
He has come all the way to say to us in Mongolian, " Tengri 
moe sen, ta moe sen, char moe sen ; " which means, " Sky not 
good, horse not good, town not good." Thereupon he turned 



^36 ACROSS THIBET. 

his liorse round and galloped off, having told us nothing we did 
not know before, except that Mongolian pilgrims must have been 
accustomed to remain in this country, inasmuch as he had picked 
up a few words of their language. 

February 12. — A violent west wind seals the fate of poor old 
Imatch. He sobs when the time comes for starting, and sending 
for Parpa says : " You remember that I am in your debt. At 
Tcharkalik I bought some boots of you, and did not pay for 
them. If Allah pleases to let me get better, I will pay you for 
them. If I die, you will pay yourself with what I have left, and 
keep the rest ; for you gave me to drink during the night." 

I try to cheer him up by saying that we shall soon reach a 
town, and that we are all fond of him, and anxious to nurse him. 
But it is no use, and he says : " Thank you, and forgive me if I 
do not attend to my work. But I cannot. Death is at hand, 
and has already taken possession of my legs. Forgive me. I 
will not sob any more. I will not give way to despair. It is 
all over." 

We load the poor fellow as best we can, and start very down- 
hearted, winding round mountain spurs, and then resuming our 
course to the southeast. For the first time we see upon the 
heads of three very ugly women a tall headdress, not unlike a 
pope's bonnet. Our stage, though rather longer than that of 
yesterday, in order that we may encamp near a lake, is only ten 
miles, so exhausted are we. 

A number of sheep are feeding close by, and as, whenever we 
try to speak to the natives, they make off, we take advantage to 
kill some for our personal use. The old woman who is in charge 
of them makes off, uttering piercing shrieks. Rachmed has had 
the good sense to pick out some fine fat lambs. In the rough 
ground near the lake we see some men encamped, with five or 
six horses close at hand, and Prince Henry and myself determine 
to try and seize them. The Thibetans see what we are at, and 
make a dash to be off, but not in time to prevent our securing 
one of their horses, their leader, and one of his men. Their 
weapons had been laid down in a heap, and they did not make 



TAKING A PRISONER. 



237 



^ny effort to prevent us seizing them, but were up on their 
horses and off. AVe fired a few shots from a revolver after 
them, which only accelerated their flight. 

The old man whom we had made prisoner sits dazed, and puts 
out his tongue in a most beseeching way. He has a lot of small 





LAKE NAMTSO. 



bags containing provisions, and he offers us in tiu'n, by way of 
mollifying us, handfuls of powdered cheese, zamba, and dried 
meat. These we refuse, and he sits there muttering prayers and 
looking at us with evident anxiety and fear. After letting him 
be alarmed for the moment, we proceed, when the rest of our 
men have come up, to explain that if we want horses it is be- 
<iause several of our men cannot walk, and that we are prepared 
to pay a good price, while he raises his thumb by way of satis- 
faction when we call him " appa," " popeunne " (" father," 
^^ brother"). 

Our dogs alarm him very much, and he begs us to call them 



238 ACROSS THIBET. 

away; but we reassure liirn by saying tliat they do not bite 
those whom we call " brothers." Then we give him a supply of 
sugar, and when he has tasted it he cannot hide his satisfaction, 
while after he has had some raisins and apricots, he in turn 
calls us "brothers." Then we show him silver bars, and bar- 
gain with him for his horse, while, to prove that our intentions 
are good, we set his companion at liberty and allow him to carry 
off his pelisse. The latter jumps at the offer, and skelters off 
without any concern for his master. 

At this juncture a horsemait arrives with a red pendant 
fastened to the barrel of his gun. He says that he is the owner 
of the sheep killed by Rachmed, and we at once offer him some 
tea, which he drinks out of a cup done up in his pelisse, as his 
religion forbids men of his race to let their lips touch anything 
which impure lips have approached. This may appear singular 
to Europeans, and it is perhaps only a preventive against cer- 
tain contagious diseases, very necessary in a country where the 
crockery is never washed. 

In the meanwhile a silver bar has been taken out of a bag and 
shown to him. He asks to be allowed to test it; and when we 
tell him that a stamp on it he has remarked is Pekin, he seems 
reassured, and repeats " Petsin, Petsin." Nevertheless, when we 
weigh him out the price of his lambs, he again examines the 
money before putting it into a small bag hanging round his 
neck. When we give him a small handglass, he does not at 
first understand its use ; but when the chief whom we hold 
prisoner sees himself in it, he laughs almost like an idiot, and 
explains the secret to his friend, the latter going off in high 
glee. As to the prisoner himself, he is quite at ease, and asks 
to be allowed to sleep where he is, only begging us to keep off 
the dogs and let him have a mirror. This we promise, and in 
the meanwhile pay him for his horse, which we fasten up close 
to our tents, whither we carry a whole heap of guns and swords, 
belonging to the fugitives. 

February 13. — Our dogs barked all night, and were answered 
by others in the distance, while, in the semi-darkness that pre- 



DEATH OF IMATCII. 239 

cedes day, the wolves were howling dolefully. At this moment, 
as I go out of the tent, Rachmed comes to say that Imatch has 
just died. Yesterday, when I asked him how he was, he replied 
" Better," and, though his breath was short and his face swollen, 
he had drunk his tea with pleasure. He took an interest, too, 
in what was going on in the tent, and I had noticed him putting 
argols on the fire, from sheer force of habit, like the true man of 
the steppe he was. Placing him near the entrance to the tent, 
which was his favorite place, we had rolled him well up in his 
pelisse and rugs, and he had stretched himself out to sleep. 
When asked if there was anything he would like, he said " No," 
and we did not think his end was so near. Rachmed's account 
of his last moments was as follows : 

" When the wolves howled, Imatch called out, ' Parpa, give 
me some water ; I am thirsty.' To which Parpa replied, ' The 
water is frozen, but I will go and light a fire and melt some ice 
for you to drink.' Then, when the ice was ready, Imatch drank it 
without help, but with some difficulty, and said how glad he was 
to quench his last thirst. Then he stretched himself out and began 
to groan a little. All at once he jumped up, went out of the tent 
on his knees, and returned to his couch. We got the tea ready, 
and offered him a cup as soon as it was made. But he could not 
keep down the first mouthful, and putting back the cup he called 
us all — ' Timour, Isa, Abdullah, Parpa, Rachmed ! ' We all 
gathered round him, and raising himself on his elbow he uttered 
the following words, broken by sighs : '' I shall not arrive. Al- 
lah will not take me any further. Grood-by. I am very pleased 
with you all. You have taken great care of me. Good-by. I 
am gone ! ' He fell back, and in a moment his spirit had fled." 

Such is the narrative to which we listen by the glimmer of our 
lantern, for day has not yet dawned, and as soon as it is light we 
will bury him in a hollow spot down in the quagmire. Imatch 
had followed us all the way from Djarkent, from the frontier of 
Siberia. We all liked him ; for, if he was rough of speech, he 
was good-hearted, plucky, and a hard worker. He took great 
care of his camels, which had formerly belonged to him in part ; 



240 ACROSS THIBET. 

but having fallen into the clutches of a usurer, he had to sell them 
and become the servant of his creditor, who had sold them to us 
for at least double what he had paid Imatch for them. As we 
paid him high wages, he reckoned upon being able to purchase 
back his camels and "become Imatch himself again," as he put it. 

But Allah had decided otherwise, and the poor Kirghiz will 
not see his native steppe again. We lay him in the earth 
wrapped in the felt which served him for a bed. We turn his 
face to the southeast, and our men bring stones and earth to 
cover his body, while prayers are recited with the accompani- 
ment of sobs and tears. 

Then w^e prepare to start for the Namtso, which, according to 
our prisoner, is on the other side of a chain of hills over which 
our road leads. We set him at liberty, giving him presents, and 
letting him have the arms we captured yesterday ; and we are 
scarcely gone before the fugitives of yesterday, who had evi- 
dently been watching us from the top of the mountain, come 
trotting toward him. 

The certainty that the Tengri Nor — the Namtso, as the Thi- 
betaus say — is there gives us fresh vigor, and we only regret our 
horses cannot follow us, except by our dragging them by the 
bridle ; they are barely capable of carrying our saddles, our bags, 
and our cloaks. Father Dedeken and Prince Henry have to 
abandon theirs, and only two were destined to see the holy lake. 

When we reach the summit of the pass, we perceive the 
Singling Tanla and the eastern extremity of the lake, and, as 
quickly as possible, we scale the neighboring heights, so as to 
take in a wider horizon. 

At our feet, between cliffs to the west, from which descend 
promontories, forming gulfs and bays, glitters a beautiful silver 
mirror, round in shape, but oval like an egg. To the southwest 
the lake skirts a hill, and extends much further ; but whether 
this hill forms part of an island or a peninsula we cannot tell. 
The Ningling Tanla arrests our attention much longer, as this- 
chain unfolds before us its summits and peaks capped with 
snoAV, quite shutting out the horizon. We are struck by the 



ARRIVAL AT THE NA2ITS0. 241 

nearly equal altitude of tliis loug row of peaks, surmounting 
spurs which descend toward the lake in regular rows like the 
tents of an encamped army ; and just in the center we can see, 
towering over all the rest, four large icy peaks which the 
Thibetans revere, for behind them is Lhassa, the " city of the 
spirits." 

Descending the stony and sandy slope, we reached the shores 
of the lake, passing over last year's grass, which bears the marks 
of previous encampments and of the overflow of the waters 
when stirred by the tempest. Looking at the lake from the 
northern side, we did not see any snow upon the ridge which 
skirts it, whereas the Ningling Tanla is quite white, thus illus- 
trating the Thibetan saying, " The water of the Namtso is made 
of the snow of the Mngling Tanla." 

As we go southward the lake seems to open out in a south- 
westerly direction ; and as long as the mist prevents us from 
seeing the end of it, we might take it be a boundless sea. The 
evening sun, striking the ice, makes it sparkle like jewels ; and 
we can well appreciate the origin of its name, '' the lake of 
heaven." Then, as-the sun goes down, it becomes, as it touches 
the summit of the hills, like a block of ice; and finally, as it 
sinks behind them, there is a suffused glory of rose and gold, 
the contrast between the soft lines in our rear and the bristling^ 
line of mountains before us in the direction of Lhassa being very 
gi^eat. We may well ask if we shall ever be able to cross this 
seemingly insurmountable barrier, and our spirits do not rise 
when night sets in, and the wolves commence their sinister 
chorus. 



CHAPTER X. 



AWAITING ORDERS FROM LHASSA. 



At Namtso — Encamping Near Ningling Tanla Pass — An Embassage — The Thibetans 
Undecided — The Caravan in Battle Array — A Mandarin — A Mongolian Interpreter 
— Arrival of the Amban from Lhassa — Giving Him Audience — His Suite and Their 
Costumes — A Long Interview — The Thibetans' New Year's Day — In the Amban's 
Tent — Hewers of Wood — Another Mongolian Interpreter — The Incuriousness of 
Thibetans — A Storm — Arrival of the Ta-Lama and the Ta- Amban — Plain Speaking 
— Refusal to Return — The Ta-Lama and the Ta-Amban Described — Abdullah and 
the Doungane at their Devotions — Colloquy Betv/een Rachmed and Timour — Thi- 
betans at Work — Their General Characteristics — Carnivorous Horses — The Samda- 
Kansain Chain and River — A Blade of Grass — How They Do Business at Lhassa. 

Our arrival at Namtso is an 
important event for ns. Al- 
tliongli we are the first Euro- 
peans actually to heboid it, it is 
markeci on tlie maps, thanks to 
the researches of the pundit 
Nain-Singh. At last we are safe 
out of the unknown country in 
which we have been since leav- 
ing the pass of Amban- Achkan 
Davane, and we know now 
where Ave are. This thought 
would cheer us but for the piti- 
ful condition of our little troop, 
for our camels have no strength, and all means of transport will 
soon fail us. 

We purpose staying here a day, not so much to rest our 
beasts — for they are too far gone to enjoy a rest — as to prolong 
their lives a little by letting them graze on the grass which sur- 
rounds our camp pretty thickl}^ Up till now we have not seen 
the envoys of the authorities at Lhassa, a fact which causes us 

242 




KELIGIOUS INSIGNIA. 



AT NAMTSO. 243 

HO little astonishment, for they ought to have been advised some 
time ago of our arrival, our stages having been very short ones 
since we first met with the men, and couriers having had plenty 
of time to convey the information. 

It is probable, however, that we shall very soon have an 
opportunity of demanding an explanation from the natives, for 
a movement is visible in the little plain formed by the old bed 
of the lake. Bodies of men on horseback are passing at some 
distance from our camp, and are going south. Their intention, 
doubtless, is to gather at the pass by which we shall try to 
climb the Ningling Tanla. I say advisedly " shall try," for a 
worn-out band can attempt nothing with any assurance of suc- 
cess. Should we encounter a difiicult road, we should have to 
stop, unless favored by luck which it does not do to count upon. 
We are not reduced, however, to the last extremity, for we have 
still provisions, meat, and tea enough for several months, besides 
sugar, preserved vegetables, and ammunition, while deer, ptarmi- 
gan, and koulanes are within shooting range, and make excellent 
food. But strength is failing, both in man and beast. 

We pass the day shooting, and besides the meat of the kou- 
lanes, which we procure in this way, we enrich our collection of 
gypaetes and vultures. On the borders of the lake we notice 
the steam from hot salt-springs, amid the rocks which rise at 
the north end of the lake. Here and there some stunted juni- 
pers are growing. It is a long time since we have seen any 
semblance of vegetation, and our men literally shout for joy. 
Our instruments tell us that we are at an altitude of 15,321 feet, 
this being very near to the estimate of Nain-Singh, who puts it 
at 15,400 feet. 

February 15. — To-day we do another ten miles to the south, 
crossing at the head of the lake a river which runs into it. This 
river divides into several small arms which thaw during a part 
of the day only, and that merely on the surface, so that the 
water flows on the top of the ice. Whilst crossing it some of 
us have an unexpected foot-bath, a thing to which we have for a 
long time been strangers. 



244 ACEOSS THIBET. 

We proceeded to set up our tents not far from the pass which 
crosses the Ningling Tank, on the east of which are some 
superb peaks, the two highest of which we christened Hue and 
Gabet, in memory of the courageous missionaries who penetrated 
to Lhassa. 

On the other side of the ice we were awaited by some of the 
horsemen whom we had seen, and among their number was one 
who spoke Mongolian a little. He was in the midst of a group 
of men whose costume, which was comparatively clean, showed 
them to be chiefs. All around us were scattered, at a respectful 
distance, numerous small bands, making several hundred men in 
all, so that we closed in our ranks and grasped our rifles. The 
first use we made of the interpreter, who a23proached to present 
to us his superiors, was to ask him to inform his compatriots, 
that we should fire on any horsemen who approached us, and that 
consequently they would do well to keep their distance until 
we had seen the " great chiefs," with whom we wished to speak, 
and from whom we should learn whether we were in a friendly 
or hostile country. We added that, according to the custom of 
our own country, it would be becoming to wait until we had 
pitched our tents before conversing, and at the same time, 
by the help of our whips, we scattered several who had come 
too close. 

When we had pitched our tents on a slight elevation to the 
left of the road, the ambassadors came up and were received by 
Dedeken and Abdullah at the fire of the Doungane. Tlieir 
first business was to hand us, as presents, some packets of rancid 
butter, and a stone bottle of European manufacture, containing 
a spirit made out of barley, and not unpalatable. They then 
informed us, through Akkan, that they had been sent from 
Lhassa to ask us who we were. During the conversation we 
examined their horses, which seemed excellent. Their baggage 
was transported by mules, which were very strong though of 
small build. After some time, through one of our men, they 
asked permission to visit us, but we refused under the plea that 
we did not speak their language, and that they were not of 



AN EMBASSAGE. 245 

sufficiently high rank. It is absolutely necessary to give people 
a high opinion of yourself when you are traveling in the East 
and meet with strangers. As they quitted the camp we saw 
that they were well clothed, in the Chinese fashion, that they 
were taller and stouter than those of their fellow-countrymen 
whom we had so far come across, and that, from their polished 
mannei's, they evidently belonged to a town. 

Dedeken and Abdullah reported their conversation to us. 
They presented themselves to us as envoys of the Tale Lama and 
of the Amban of Lhassa, the former being the highest religious 
authority and the latter one of the greatest civic personages, a 
sort of Under-Secretary of State. They wished to see our papers, 
to know who we were, for what purpose we were traveling, etc. 
By way of ans^ver to these questions we complained of the way in 
which we had been received en route j adding that we could not 
obtain any help, purchase provisions, or hire beasts of burden ; 
that we failed to understand such treatment, seeing that we had 
paid generously for what we had bought on the first day, but 
that, notwithstanding, we had been obliged to seize things by 
force ; and that if they continued to treat us as highwaymen, we 
should behave as such. Thereupon a lama, clad in yellow silk 
and decorated with the bright blue button, spoke volubly and 
expressed his regrets that we had been so treated, begging us to 
understand that no one looked for proper behavior from savages, 
from " Si fantse," assuring us at the same time that we should, 
for the future, have no cause to complain. Finally, he urged us 
to hand him our papei's, and to remain where we were, when our 
wants would be supplied. Dedeken replied that we had need of 
rest, and that we wished to stop at a more convenient spot. Ab- 
dullah made us laugh by repeating the illustrations he had used 
when speaking to these savages, as, when he handed them sugar 
and bade them remark its whiteness, " Such is the whiteness of 
our intentions," or, when they drank their tea, '' You like it, 
though before you drank it you did not like it. So it will be 
with us ; Avhen you have made our acquaintance you will like us 
as much as you do the tea." 



0-a! KVk'os.^ niiiihT. 

W c comment on tlio ovonts; of tlio day, seated roiiiul our pot, 
in wliieli the raiieid butter tliev have given us is melting and 
emitting a sonieNvhat disagieeabh' odov. AVe eome to the cou- 
eUision that tlie Thibetans do not know what to decide, and that 
tlieir orders with regard ro us are vague. It is i>robable that we 
might [nirsue our journev without their daring to stop us ; but, 
inifortunatel} , we have no means of advaneing, forour beasts are 
dying, ^^'e determine. lio\Never. to nioveontlie morrow as far as 
possible, eouviueed that the stage will be an exeeediugly short one. 

Fibntarf/ 10. — The envoys return to the eliarge, and try to 
eonvinee us that we eotild not do better than stay where we are. 
They aii'ain ask for our papers, and this tinu' learn our national- 
it} . We send them baek without any answer, merely tn"ging 
them to rind a bettei- interpreter of 3Lougolian, for we eannot un- 
derstand one another. 

We set out on our journey in our best battle-array, with riiles 
on shoulders, for the plain s^varms with hoi'semen. It seems as 
thouii'h they had mustered all their warriors — iloubtless to 
frighten us. We enter the pass, wiiieh rises gently over the 
ridges, at the bottom of which twists a frozen river. Xothiug 
happens as we cross it, and on the other side we rind \vaiting the 
envoys whom Ave had seen the night before. They beg us to re- 
main so as to talk amicably with the Amban. who is on his way 
from Lhassa, for they have already made preparations to receive 
him at the bottom of rhe pass. On the left bank of the fi'ozen 
river ^vl^cll wv are descending, we see ninnerotis black tents, 
yaks ^vith pack-saddles, and some roomy white canvas tents. 
We refuse to halt, protesting that we do not understand what 
they say, as none of them speaks Chinese. Thereupon one of 
them, the lama, clad in yelkwv, whose features had already al- 
ready revealed to us his Chinese origin, proceeds immediately to 
address us in that language. " Stop. I beg of you," he urges ; 
" beyond the pass you will rind bitter water, no grass : it is a 
regular desert. You may believe me : if, however, yoti doubt 
my word, I will lend you my horse, and you can assure yotirself 
that I am speaking the truth." 



A MAyDARIN. 247 

My first thought was to accept this offer, and ask for two 
horses ; to rejoin onr camels, which had gone on a little ahead 
during these negotiations ; to order Kachmed to put up tea, 
sugar, bread, and meat for a week, and then to make mth him 
for Lhassa. But this would have meant leaving our companions 
in a difficult position, and I quickly abandoned the idea, for this 
was no time for quitting the helm. At the very moment when 
these thoughts occuiTed to me one of our camels fell, never to 
rise again, and our last horse also fell, so we ordered the van- 
guard to draw back. 

At the same time, escorted by horsemen, and very closely 
muffled, a mandarin with the blue button comes up, dismounts, 
and, raising the formidable glasses which shade his eyes, discloses 
to us a smooth face, intelligent and affable. Our interpreter 
presents him to us as the Amban himself, who wishes to greet 
us immediately on his anival, and asks an audience for the mor- 
row. 

He then retires, leaving us to discuss matters with the lama 
(who speaks Chinese) and his interpreter. The latter is a Mon- 
gol, with a fat, jovial, smiling face, with thick lips, beyond which 
protrudes a very long tooth, giving him when he gapes — and 
he is always gaping — a good-natured appeai-ance. He assures 
us that the Amban is a very good fellow, and that we shall be 
well satisfied when we have once discussed our affairs the next 
day with him. We trj to drag some information out of him, 
but he shows a remarkable discretion, and our questions only 
make him leave us quicker than he would otherwise have done. 
He is evidently restrained by the presence of the Chinese lama, 
or perhaps he is discreet in obedience to strict orders. 

Fthniary 17. — Things have not turned out badly, and we still 
hope to reach Ba-Tang. It is a question of committing no blunder, 
of winning over the natives, of inspiring them with confidence. 
It is exactly three months since our departure from Tcharkalik, 
during which time we have lived in a desert, climbed many moun- 
tain chains, drunk frozen water, lit fires with dead wood, and 
shivered under the west wind. And to-dav we awake at a 



248 ACROSS THIBET. 

height of 1 7,560 feet. A strong west wiud is blowing, and we are 
iust o'oino- to drink our tea round our miserable little lire. The 
only change in our existence is that our advance is checked 
through want of strength, and also because the object which we 
have in view is still so very far oif that we can never hope to 
reach it with oui' own resources ; and, therefore, we must get all 
the help we can fi'om these Thibetans. 

Oiu' circumstances certainly leave much to be desired. In the 
first place the food is such that the least susceptible appetite 
wearies of it. Our bill of fare is always the same : meat boiled 
in mutton fat, tea that never really boils on account of oui' alti- 
tude, and made with water that is sometimes brackish and always 
diity, which we get by melting ice that is full of impurities. 
The frozen meat, too, which we have to chop with an ax, is al- 
ways tough, and never cooked through, while, when we try vege- 
tables or rice, we find it impossible to soften them, and they 
crackle between our teeth. The dust, mud, and sand that we 
have swallowed, and the numerous hairs from our fui's and beasts 
which we find in our food, are thino's to which we have lono- 
ceased to pay any attention, for here we have no longer any pre- 
tensions to cleanliness, and we have come to consider even a 
washing of the hands as a thing of the past. Our cheeks puif ed 
out with the cold, our swollen eyes, our chapped lips, do not dif- 
fer much in appearance fi'om those of the natives; and with 
such an aspect we cannot make a very good impression u]3on peo- 
ple who see us for the first time. We must trust to our actions 
to rectify the erroneous impression which, at first sight, we can- 
not fail to convey. 

But here is someone to announce the Amban. AVe stretch a 
clean skin in our men's tent, which is of considerable size, and 
firmly await the arrival of the ^plenipotentiary fi'om Lhassa. 
He arrives on foot, accompanied by from fifteen to twenty in- 
ferior chiefs of various sizes. Having saluted us politely and 
with ease, he presents us with the cata, the scai-f which is the 
native visiting card, and lays presents at our feet — bands of a 
cotton stuff called poulou, red and yellow and worked with 



.// 



TEE AMBAX AXD HIS SUIT. 



249 



small crosses; then butter in sewn skins, and sacks of zamba, 
i. e., fried barlevmeal. AVe beg him to take a seat in om- tent, 
whereupon one of liis men lays down a small carpet on ^vkicL. 
lie takes Ms place. On his right is an old lama, whose head re- 
minds us of a wrinkled apple — beardless, with shaven head, fat 
and insignificant, with a rosaiy in his hand. On his left is the 
Chinese mandarin, Avearing a rich Chinese costume. He has 
regular features, smooth chin, thick lips, white teeth, swollen 
eyelids, dark, contracted eyes with a sly look, and altogether a 
face that is cunning and sarcastic. Xext are di^awn up, on the 
side of the tent which is not reserved for us, various lamas, who 
crowd together near the entrance, whilst a crowd of servants 
stand and watch the proceedings. These lamas are of an inferior 
rank, and have the tanned faces of men who live much in the 
open. Their features are large, and many of them have a Mon- 
golian cast, with theii' snub noses, prominent cheek bones, and 
small eyes ; at all events, they seem to us by no means of pui'e 
Thibetan blood. 




THE PETTY A^EBAX. 



250 ACE0S8 THIBET. 

Their lieadclresses are many and various, ranging from tlie 
Chinese hat to the crusader's cap, the half-turban of the date of 
Charles VII., and monk's hood ; we can recognize them all. The 
cut and color of their clothes, too, vary, and they wear red,, 
green, yellow, and black. Our tent reminds us of a stage on 
which the actors are preparing to play La Ihur de Nesle, with 
the characters clad in the garments of the Middle Ages. These 
lamas in their variegated and picturesque costumes do not look 
ill-disposed, and as is becoming to " supers," do not breathe a 
single word, but squat there on their heels, with an air of dis- 
regard for what is going on. The leading character is evidently 
the Ambau, a man of moderate size, and quick action. His face 
is broad and round, his eyes, which are black and of a European 
cast, have a look of sinceiity in them ; his lips are thick, his 
nose straight and broad at the end ; his forehead prominent, 
his hair plaited, and done up in bands like that of European, 
women. Altogether he looks a man of considerable intelligence. 
He speaks in a hoarse voice, telling his beads with long, tapering 
fingers, and keeping his head bent toward the ground. He 
pours forth a long tirade in a single breath and a monotonous 
voice: "We have orders to stop you wherever we meet you,, 
and to force you to retrace your steps," he first remarks. We 
reply with a smile that they must not think of making us draw 
back one single step, for we are sick of those table-lands. As to 
stopping us, that would be useless, since we have halted here 
for a conference. But, though tired, we do not want to rest 
too long, for we are anxious to reach a milder climate. 

" Will you go back ? " 

" No, no," we reply ; " we would rather die. Ask any one of 
our men whether he would not prefer to die straight oif than to 
go through that fearful journey again." 

" AVe will supply you with all you want for the re- 
turn." 

" It is no good talking of that, for our mind is fully made up. 
Please do not reopen the question, for you will only waste your 
time. Besides, even if we were willing, we could not do so, for 



A LONG INTERVIEW. 251 

without camels we could not manage it, and you liave none to 
give us." 

" Where then do you want to go ? " 

" Merely to rest in some convenient spot, for we are sick and 
worn-out. We have no more horses, our camels are dying, two 
of our servants are dead, and to force us to stop here would 
mean death to us." / 

" After you have rested^' where will you go ? " 

" We will make for Bi-Tang, and then, striking the Yang-Tse- 
Kiang, follow it to the sea." 

" What is the obiect of your journey ? " 

" Simply to lo^ about, to shoot, and to improve our minds." 

"Have you so^n the Khan of the Torgates? " 

" No, we ha^e not." 

" By whaJr road did you come ? " 

" By onerthat we discovered for ourselves." 

" Did y^u leave your own country long ago ? " 

" It was summer when we left it last year." 

" Are you^ussians ? " 

" No, we'^re not."" 

What we say does not seem to convince them. The Amban 
pronounces a few words, and someone brings in a packet envel- 
oped in a packing cloth. From it he produces a box which he 
opens, and draws out a paper folded like a cravat. This he reads 
and then asks for the details of our journey. How many there 
were at starting, how many horses and camels we had had, what 
arms, our names, and those of our men, etc. 

We reply to each question, and the Chinese mandarin writes 
down the names of each of us in a fashion. The three envoys 
then interchange a few words, after which the Amban, taking 
the sheet again, says, " Here is an order which I received two 
months ago from Pekin. It is an order to stop the Russians, 
Petsou^ of Petsokon, arriving with Lobolou and thirty men." 
(Then followed a list of camels, guns, etc.) " You are neither 
Petsou nor Lobolou, for the names which you have given us do 
not in the least resemble these. Written information has reached 

* Petzoff, of St. Petersburg, and Roborovsky. 



"252 ACEOSS THIBET. 

US that Niklai (Nicliolas Prjevalsky) is dead, and that Petsoii 
has taken command of the men whom he had got together so as 
to reach Lhassa. We have also been told that other Russians,'^ 
less numerous, are traveling in the district of the Koukou-Nor, 
and that they are possibly making for Lhassa by the Tsaidame 
road. Are you these Russians ? " 

" We are not Russians at all." 

" Then you are Peliu (/. e., English) ? " 

^' No." 

" You must know that the English are the enemies of our peo- 
ple, many of whom they have killed with their far-carrying guns, 
and our people do not want the English to penetrate into Thibet 
at any price." 

" No, we are not English, we are French." 

As, however, our Mongolian interpreter renders " French " by 
" Tarang " and then translates " Tarang " into Thibetan by ^' Pe- 
lin," the Amban believes us to acknowledge that we are English, 
a contradiction that he cannot understand. The only means by 
which we can explain our nationality is to use the Chinese ex- 
pression while addressing the lama who speaks this language, 
consequently we say to him, " We are ta fa kie " /. e., Frenchmen. 

The lama who acts as secretary thereupon makes a short ex- 
planation in Thibetan to his chief, who finishes by understanding 
that we are a distinct people from the English, and excuses him- 
self for his mistake in these words, "Never having seen any 
Frenchmen before, we cannot, of course, recognize them. How- 
ever, allow me to withdraw now, so that I may consult with my 
chiefs ; to-morrow you shall have an answer." 

Such, in brief, was our first conversation, which had lasted 
several hours, through the necessity of having two interpreters. 
Besides, these men would not trust us, and laid traps for us, re- 
peating questions that we had already answered, and returning 
suddenly to a point that seemed settled, so to assure themselves 
that our story did not vary. The conversation was interspersed 
with continual cups of tea, drunk out of the most beautiful 
Chinese ware, while the Amban's cup was of green Jade. Hav- 

* The brothers Grrum Grmail. 



THE THIBETANS' NEW TEARS DAY. 253 

iiig cauglit cold on tlie Journey here, they were forever cough- 
ing, and using their handkerchiefs, which consist of a cotton 
stuff C'pouloLi ") sewn in the shape of the cover of a book, which 
they open and shut just if it were an actual book, and place in 
their bosoms. They repeatedly, too, took snuff, which is a white 
po\vder. Sometimes it is in a flat bottle with a scoop attached to 
the cork, in other cases it is shaken out of a cylindrical metal box, 
Avhich has a cover closing by means of a pin. Depositing the snuff 
on the thumb-nail, they sniff it up with great satisfaction, and 
then pass the box on to their neighbors. 

At last, however, the list of our little troop was completed, 
but the rustic lama, who had ticked us off on his rosary, made us 
out to be eleven instead of twelve, because Parpa had been for- 
gotten, with the result that the whole process of enumerating and 
reading out our names had to be gone through again, while he 
iigain ticked them off. All these operations were performed 
very leisurely and steadily, as befits men of high rank who have 
plenty of time to lose, so that this first conference lasted about 
five hours. 

The Amban will now write and tell his superiors what he has 
learnt from our mouths, and they will then inform him what 
line of conduct he is to pursue. Meanwhile, he will supply us 
with provisions, for we do not want to use up the small supply 
we have in stock. To do that would place us entirely in their 
hands, and we are quite in the dark as to what the future has in 
store for us. We mean, therefore, to live on the sheep and meal 
with which they mil supply us. 

February 20. — We employ the time we have to remain in the 
pass of Dam, by studying the Thibetans of high degree and the 
lamas. We begin with a festival, for this is their New Year's 
Day, and they keep up the feast for five days more. Early in 
the morning the interpreter had come to invite us to the Am- 
ban's tent to celebrate the day with him. This fine old Mon- 
golian had put on a sort of red hood for the occasion, and 
had evidently been drinking ; for his eyes were more brilliant 
than they generally are, and besides, he emits an odor of arrack, 



254 ACROSS THIBET. 

whicli at once proclaims the reason of his good-humor and beam- 
ing smile. " Come," said he, " come at once. It is the first day 
of the new year, and the Amban is impatient to see you. He 
has prepared a feast, too, for you, so come directly." 

We at once make our way down toward their camp, which lies 
below ours on the other side of the ice ; numerous black tents 
surrounding the white ones which the Amban and the chiefs oc- 
cupy. There is a perpetual coming and going of servants, who 
are being assisted by the savage inhabitants of the table-land, 
whose right arms, in spite of the severity of the weather, are out- 
side their tunics, while half of their body appears completely 
bare. It is they who gather the dead wood, search for ice, cut 
up the animals they kill, look after the saddle-horses, mules, and 
yaks, and keep the fire burning by means of a skin in which 
they very cleverly imprison the air, which is then forced out 
through an iron tube plunged in the heap of dead wood. The 
tents form a pretty picture, reminding one of a bedecked fleet, as 
the garlands of prayers, running from top to top, wave in the 
breeze. The camp itself is all alive with men, while the moun- 
tain sides swarm with yaks, which have transported the provi- 
sions for the hundred or two hundred souls who are honoring us 
Avith their presence. In front of the Amban's tent is an open, 
one which does duty as kitchen, and near it we perceive a man 
who looks as though he were making butter in a jar, but he is 
really mixing it in the tea. 

The Amban himself, who is awaiting us in front of his tent, 
sends some servants to help us over the ice, which they do by 
holding us up by the arms, for we are guests of no small conse- 
quence. We mount the bank, along the bottom of which great 
care is necessary in walking, and the Amban advances to meet 
us with a smile that stretches right across his smooth round face. 

At his request we precede him into his tent, which is a four- 
sided one with a square sloping roof. As the Amban is a lay- 
man, a servant Avith long hair, hanging in a plait, lifts the curtain 
as we enter. The Amban invites us to take our seats on a sort 
of dais to the right of the entrance, a second one, a little higher 



m THE AMBAN'S TENT. 



255 



than ours, being reserved for him at the otlier end. He sits on 
it, cross-legged, on a tiger-skin, ^vitll cushions at his back, cov- 
ered, some of them ^vith Chinese silk, and others, if I mistake 
not, with India muslin. 

We wish him a Happy New Year and good health, not forget- 
ting to add, as is our way in Champagne, " and Paradise after- 




TENT OF THE ENVOYS FROM I.KASSA. 



ward," a formula, which, to satisfy a believer in the transmigra- 
tion of souls, is rendered, " We wish you a still better place after 
death." He thanks us profusely, and expresses his pleasure 
that we should have met for their greRte^t fete, adding, " This is 
a good omen, for those who pass New Year's Day together be- 
^ come good friends." 

" We have no doubt on this point, for, as a matter of fact, we 
have no ill-feeling toward you. We look upon yoii as an 
honorable man, with whom we would gladly be good friends." 
And so on for about twenty minutes, as is the custom in the 
East — a ceremony which we may compare A^ith the salute be- 
fore an assault. 



256 ACROSS THIBET. 

Then, we ask him when his superiors' reply will come. 

" Very soon," he said. 

" We should take it as a great favor if you would let us know 
what you mean by this word ' very soon,' for in some countries 
it means ' in an hour,' in others ' in a day,' or ' in a year.' What 
does it mean with you ? " 

The Mongolian interpreter seemed more than ever under the 
influence of arrack, so loud was his laugh, and when the words 
were translated to him, the Amban laughed too. " It is quite 
true," he replied, " that there ought not to be any misunder- 
standing about the meaning of words, and I may tell you that 
'very soon' means in this case 'in about six days,' for our chiefs 
will doubtless want to consult the Chinese mandarin. He is not 
in Lhassa, but lives at two days' journey west of that town. I 
am very sorry for this delay, but it cannot be helped." 

Meanwhile the chief of the lamas who are here enters the 
tent, and takes his seat on the left-hand side of the Amban on 
the same dais. Before them stands a small table bearing their 
teacups with silver lids, into which some young men are con- 
stantly pouring from earthenware teapots the mixture of tea and 
butter. One of them has evidently snatched the teapot out of 
the hands of a comrade who wishes to prevent him from coming 
into the tent, and is holding him back by the skirt of his robe. 
In order to free himself, he is violently kicking backward, whilst 
lifting the curtain with a beaming smile on his face. 

We remained a long time with the Amban, drinking his tea 
and butter, which he was incessantly oifering us, together with 
sweetmeats, consisting of pastry and queer-looking objects, not 
particularly attractive to the eye, which we all liked. I must, 
however, mention some nuts preserved in sugar. 

The conversation flagged but little, turning all the time on 
our situation. We complained of our forced stay here, and of 
our not being allowed to enjoy a much-needed rest, and said we 
failed to understand this fashion of receiving strangers. To this 
the Amban replied that he was merely obeying orders, that no 
one wished us ill, that their customs were difl^erent from ours, 



THE AMBAN'8 ALTAR. 257 

and that in a very few days, after the fete was over, everything 
would be arranged in accordance with our wishes. 

The first thing that strikes us in examining the tent is the 
quantity of sacred objects in every corner. Around the center 
pole, which supports the roof, twines, like ivy, a cluster of little 
niches, like those in which the orthodox place their images. To 
the left of the Amban an altar has been reared ujDon some 
chests, on the top of which is an image of Buddha, inclosed in 
a gilded case ; in front is a line of seven little copper cups con- 
taining saffron and oil ; a light is glimmering, and perfumes are 
burning in a box, whilst odoriferous sticks, placed in teapots, are 
smoldering away ; on the two steps of the altar stand some 
little figures, cut in butter, amongst which I can distinguish a 
sheep's head without horns, having on the forehead protuber- 
ances of white sugar, some small columns of the same material, 
and, in saucers, pieces of confectionery offered as a holocaust to- 
the divinity. 

After having drunk a great many cups of tea, we express a 
wish to retire, whereupon the Amban, supported by the chief 
lama, reiterates once more what he had already repeated a score 
of times : " Let us try and arrange the business we have in 
hand," he urges, " don't let us disagree," and, so saying, he 
presses together the inside of his thumbs, and, insisting on our 
friendship, makes use of this comparison : " Two beautiful por- 
celain cups placed together on a table look very well. But 
knock them together and they break to pieces. Don't let us 
clash, don't let us clash," he repeats, as he rises to show us the 
way out. As we go out everyone salutes us with a smile, and it. 
is easy to see that their orders are not to give us needless of- 
fense. Just as we start, a flourish of trumpets is heard above 
us, and, lifting our eyes, we perceive huge garlands fluttering 
on the summit of the perpendicular granite rocks which over- 
hang the left of the camp. These garlands consist of yaks' tails 
interspersed between pieces of colored stuffs imprinted with 
prayers. Near them are seated some lamas holding trumpets, 
from which proceed excruciating sounds that i-end the air and are: 



258 ACROSS THIBET. 

reechoed on the mountains. When they are not blowing these 
instruments, they are chanting prayers in a rhythmic cadence, 
forming a chorus in which deep bass voices support shrill trebles. 

Under pretext of taking a walk, we direct our steps toward a 
black tent which has quite recently been pitched in the roadway 
of the pass above our camp. We see squatted round a wood 
fire eight long-haired men under the command of a shorn lama. 
They are conversing quietly, and smoking a little pipe formed of 
an earthenware bowl and a bone stem, which they hand round to 
each other in turn. These are the poor wretches whose work it 
is to gather the dead wood, and who have no part in the New 
Year's celebrations. What we took for a tent in the distance is 
really only half a tent, a mere shelter of black sackcloth, open 
on the side from Avhich there is no wind. They sleep there on a 
little straw and chips ; in a corner stand their bows and lances, 
and in the middle three stones form a fireplace for use on windy 
days. Their simple dress is cut out of sheepskins, frayed at the 
lower extremities, full of holes, and extraordinarily dirty. Their 
faces, blackened with grease and smoke, suggest the purest type 
of savage that one can imagine. On looking at their narrow 
heads we ask ourselves what brains they can possibly inclose, 
and are by no means astonished at the unusual authority which 
the lamas exercise over beings so very unintelligent, so little ca- 
pable of any self-will, whose sensations cannot differ much fi'om 
those of their yaks and dogs. Let us hope that all the Thibe- 
tans do not resemble this band of animals with the face of man. 

We leave them to regale ourselves on a sheep's head that has 
been cooked under the wood on the fire, just as we roast pota- 
toes in the ashes, and excellent it is. Travelers on the steppes 
often cook their meat in this way, because there is no flame or 
smoke to betray them. 

So draws to its close the first day of the Thibetan year, and as 
we wrap ourselves in our blankets the lamas recommence their 
prayers, and are still chanting as we fall asleep. 

February 21. — In continuaition of the festival, the trumpets 
resound on the heights of the cliffs, there is singing in the camp, 



ANOTHER MONGOLIAN INTERPRETER. 259 

and the garlands of prayers are waving in tlie west wind. The 
first event of the day is a visit from another interpreter, a Mon- 
golian lama, a native of Ourga, a town lying in Chinese Mon- 
golia, not far from the frontiers of Siberia. He is of a inoderate 
height, very alert, very vigorous, and a big liar, as he soon proves, 
when he explains that he comes from Lhassa, and that, having 
lost his Avay, he " chanced " to find himself at the spot where we 
had buried Imatch. He had probably been sent to make sure of 
Imatch's nationality, for we had returned him as a Kalmuck, and, 
if he has examined him at close quarters, he will certainly have 
taken him for such, for poor Imatch had the very small nose and 
the ugliness of that race. The new interpreter examines our 
men, and declares them to be natives of North Turkestan. Then, 
without losing a moment, he proceeds to insinuate that he would 
be very thankful for the gift of a revolver. 

Fehruary 22. — To-day the Mongolian interpreter makes a con- 
fidant of poor silly Abdullah, telling him that if he (the inter- 
preter) remains here it will only be because he has no money 
wherewith to return home. He makes out that he arrived here 
some time before with a caravan of pilgrims, that he then fell ill 
and was obliged to stop here, but that he is ever thinking of his 
home at Ourga ; throwing himself on our generosity to help him. 
Although we do not place too much faith in his story, it seems 
to us at least probable, for accidents of this sort must often happen 
in Thibet, just as they were formerly of not unfrequent occurrence 
in the Holy Land. In vain do we " pump " him for information 
with respect to ourselves ; he either knows nothing, or will say 
nothing. 

March 1. — Since the 21st of February we have received visits 
from the smaller chiefs, who sometimes brought us little presents, 
and also accepted with pleasure gifts of sugar, and especially of 
raisins, which they are very fond of. They have passed a good 
deal of time in our men's tents, examining our arms, and listen- 
ing gladly to the rather unmelodious notes of an accordion. 
Every now and then they would suddenly put a question to us, 
evidently trying to catch us contradicting ourselves, and then, 



260 ACEOSS THIBET. 

witli unheard -of patience, would sit waiting for an opportunity 
to beg, in the most natural manner possible, for an explanation 
which we had already given. All the time they observed us nar- 
rowly, though they were very polite, as is their way. We might 
find considerable amusement in watching the manner in which 
they transact their business, were it not that many of our men 
are ill ; some are sujffering from sickness, others from diarrhea, 
the latter, Ave think, being caused by the water we drink, which 
is drawn from under the ice, at the source of the river which 
flows down to Lake Namtso. The cold is certainly less keen, the 
minimum varying from between 4° and 9° below zero, but we 
suffer exceedingly from the northwest winds. All our camels, 
too, are dying one after the other, without any apparent malady ; 
they are simply used up. Their dead bodies attract numerous 
gypsBtes, some of which we bring down. One of them emits a 
strong odor of musk, and Parpa hastens to remove its fat. The 
lama from Ourga begs us to give him the bodies, so that he may 
cut out certain portions of them, the liver amongst others, in order 
to make medicines of them. But being a lama, he does this 
work by night, for fear of being seen by the savages, as it is, it 
seems, infra dig. for him to do such things. 

Laden yaks arrive almost daily, sometimes by night, from the 
south ; so we conclude that more people are coming to Dam, 
which is the name of the spot where we are. On the 28th ult. 
the interpreters advised us that the answer would soon be here, 
and begged us not to lose patience. The same day the Amban, 
accompanied by the principal lamas, went on an excursion — 
scaling the heights which border the pass, so as to catch a glimpse 
of Lake Namtso, which he had never seen. This fact proves 
that the inhabitants of Lhassa do not often travel out of their 
own district, or that they do not care for exercise of this kind, 
however conducive to health it may be. At all events, the 
Namtso is supposed to be the largest piece of water in Thibet, 
and is regarded as sacred, under the name of " Heavenly Lake," 
and yet here are civil and religious personages who have never 
taken the trouble to come and see it. 



II 



A 8T0BM. 261 

March 2. — Yesterday morning early the sky was overcast, and 
wlien the storm burst, the valley disappeared in the dust. All 
night it blew a gale, and several tents belonging to the Thibetans 
were carried away in a squall, but we were all right in ours, 
which is a fourfold one, for the Amban had given us a beautiful 
double tent, which we had thrown over ours, so that besides the 
extra thickness, there is room between them in which to store 
various articles, and also for an entrance hall. The whole is 
strengthened by huge stones, with the result that it defies the wind. 
The minimum temperature last night was 10° below zero, and 
several of us complained, on waking, of headache — the usual ef- 
fect of mountain storms, even if they occur during sleep. To- 
ward midday a snow cloud passed over us, and a strong north- 
west wind was blowing, a very different thing from the west 
wind which comes up across the Namtso, rushing through the 
pass. In the afternoon our long-toothed friend brought us a lit- 
tle milk, which we had been asking for to give our invalids, and 
at the same time he informed us that the great chiefs would soon 
be here. We had suspected this from the early morning, for 
numerous yaks with loads had arrived during the night, and we 
had seen men, with great difficulty, pitching a large tent, and had 
been amused to see a strong gust of wind carrying off the canvas. 
The perpetual coming and going of men, the general commotion, 
and the fact of the lesser chiefs superintending the work, had 
aroused our suspicions, which the indiscretion of the interpreter 
had only served to confirm. So, when he had left us, we took 
up our position at a suitable spot with our glasses, and fixed our 
eyes on the descent of the pass. 

First come into sight pack horses well harnessed, and having 
on their necks tinkling bells or tufts of red (the color denoting 
authority), then horsemen, well attired, who lose their way 
amidst the bogs, not seeming to know the path made IdcIow the 
ridges, which is reached by a detour. Some long-haired savages 
shout to them, others hasten to meet them, take their bridles and 
help their beasts over the ice, while on their arrival in camp, the 
occupants of all the tents rush out and surround them. They 



262 ACROSS THIBET. 

form, however, but tlie vanguard, for tlie camp is now filled ^vith 
excitement, and servants set out in the direction of the pass. 

It is not long before we catch sight of the great chiefs mounted 
on quick, surefooted horses, which drag along the men who are 
holding on to their bridles by way of leading them. We make 
out three important personages amongst them. Covered with 
furs lined with yellow silk, they look so fat and enormous that 
we wonder they do not crush their agile little horses. On their 
heads they wear the feathered hats of the Chinese mandarins, 
but over them a hood Avhich covers their neck and face, of which 
absolutely nothing is visible, for their eyes are protected by prom- 
inent glasses, which again, as an additional precaution, are over- 
hung by a visor. Behind them, with a great noise of bells, trots 
a large escort in varied costumes. Though this spectacle pre- 
sents a certain amount of pomp, it yet seems ridiculous. 

In the camp all the civic and religious chiefs stand awaiting 
the mandarins in a row, and when the latter arrive, they each 
make a deep bow, remaining where they stood. The Amban alone 
approaches them, and congratulates two of them with whom 
he shakes hands. Then, without dismounting, they go to their 
appointed tents, the crowd disperses, and everybody returns to 
his work. When we reflect that all these people are gathered 
here because of us, we realize that they are paying us a high 
compliment. 

Meanwhile, however, a little drama is being enacted in our 
camp. The Doungane's camel had been for two days uttering 
plaintive groans, being evidently unwell, and now to-day, just 
two months before her time of sixteen months has expired, she 
gives birth to a dead calf. The poor mother licks and smells it, 
hanging over it and crying plaintively. Timour is very sorry at 
its death, for, he said, "The little thing had humps enough to 
become a perfect camel." 

Then the interpreters arrive, and ask us to grant an audience 
to the great men who had just r.rrived. We reply that we shall 
be very happy to receive them at once. When our answer has 
been transmitted, quite a large band makes its way to our tent,, 



t 




THIBETANS LOADING A YAK. 



ARRIVAL OF THE T A- LAMA AND TA-AMBAN. 265 

preceded by two individuals who are sumptuously attired in tlie 
Chinese style. These two approach arm in arm, and one of them, 
small, short, round, and bent in the back, leans heavily on his 
companion's arm. With a venerable air these two approach 
slowly, stopping to take breath every fifteen steps. Perhaps this 
mode of procession is meant to be in good form, to impress us, 
and give us plenty of time to go politely and meet them. But 
we are rude enough to remain in our tent, and only go out of it 
when they have got on to our ground. We then exchange salu- 
tations with the two chiefs, who are introduced to us as the Ta- 
Lama and the Ta-Amban, after which some porters deposit at 
our feet five sacks — one of rice, one of zamba, one of meal, one 
of Chinese peas, and one of butter. Then we invite the two am- 
bassadors to enter our tent, where skins are spread ready for 
them. The simplicity of our furniture is evidently a surprise to 
them, for they appear to hesitate, and make difficulties before 
entering. Then, when once they have entered, they ask permis- 
sion to sit on their own little rugs, and their servants lay down 
for one of them a wildcat's-skin, and for the other a small mattress 
lined with silk. They apologize for these precautions on the 
score of their age and fatigue. 

The three who had been the first to enter into negotiations 
with us take their seats near them, in front of us, and the conver- 
sation commences. At first it consists only of small civilities. 

" How are you ? " said Ta-Lama. 

" Not at all well, for this is a wretched place." 

This answer rather disconcerts them ; they had evidently ex- 
pected greater amiability from us, and our old acquaintance, the 
Amban, hangs his head, for he had represented us as well-man- 
nered people. We ask them, in our turn, whether they have had 
a pleasant journey. 

'' Yes, although the road is a bad one. We had to travel by 
easy stages on account of our age. The festival of the New 
Year, too, has delayed us, for otherwise you would have seen us 
much sooner. This festival we are obliged to keep in compliance 
with our religion." 



266 ACROSS THIBET. 

Then come questions about ourselves and the object of our 
travels, to which we make the same reply as we have already 
made at least twenty times to their subordinate, the Amban, 
while they repeat his proposals. 

" You will now retrace your ste23s." 

" No, that is impossible." 

" If you will, we will supply you with all that you want. 
This is the best course for you to pursue, and we shall part good 
friends. Think over my suggestion, which I advise you to accept. 
I venture to hope that we shall not fall out, for we have come 
without any soldiers, though we might have brought some from 
Lhassa. That proves our good intentions." 

" It is quite useless your proposing that we should return, and 
advising us to reflect, for we do not speak without having already 
reflected. We have come from the West, urged on by fate, by 
a force which has carried us across deserts by a road which you 
yourselves do not know. Our aim is to go to Ba-Tang and then 
to Tonquin, there to rejoin our fellow-countrymen, ^vho are living 
on land which we hai^e taken from the Emperor of China. You 
are powerless against our resolution, and you may rely upon it 
that we will not take one siugle step northward. You do not 
frighten us in the least, for we have come from the end of the 
world without being stopx3ed, and we shall now pursue our way 
onward, and you will help us. It is for you rather than for us to 
reflect, and you will see that Buddha himself wills it thus. We 
would rather die than return. That is our last word." 

As the sun is now setting they rise to leave us, evidently put 
out at our having so expressed ourselves before their escort. 
They bid us farewell, and before they have gone very far, wish- 
ing to have the last word, the Ta-Lama repeats "Reflect, reflect." 

To which I reply in French, very disrespectfully, " All right, 
old fellow." (Oui, mon vieux !) 

" What does he say ? " 

" He is merely saying ' Good-night ' in his own language," 
replies Abdullah. 

The two great chiefs then departed, while we remained to fight 



PLAIN SPEAKING. 267 

the question out with the Amban and the two others with whom 
Ave had already been dealing. The Amban who, as we begin to 
believe, has taken a fancy to us, was very vexed. 

" Whatever made you speak like that to my chiefs ? Remem- 
ber that they are the two first men at Lhassa, and have as much 
power as the Ministers. Do be more amiable to-morrow. Tel] 
me what you want, and I will talk to them accordingly. Only 
do not change your minds meanwhile, for if you contradict me, 
they will accuse me of having sold myself to you, and of having 
espoused your interests, and even tried to get for you more than 
you ask for," 

" Our wish is to go to Ba-Tang. You will furnish us with the 
means of transport and provisions, and we will pay for them. 
That is what we want to-day, and what Ave shall not cease to 
want until we obtain it." 

'^ I will mention it to my chiefs, but can insist on nothing, for 
if I did they would only distrust us, and lay an information 
against us, with the result that Ave should be cruelly punished." 

With these Avords they leaA^e, and Ave go to warm ourselves at 
the fire, and confide to one another the impressions Avhicli the 
tAA^o ambassadors haA^e made on us. They are so unlike that 
they seem as though they had been created to present a striking 
antithesis. The Ta-Lama is thin and nervous, AAdth the small 
dark eyes of a European, very bright and very straight ; his 
nose is pointed, and a prominent chin is made to appear still 
longer, OAving to a plaited tuft of hair that is twisted in the 
shape of a rat's tail. His face has a Avary look, and a smile 
Avhich might be either benevolent or ironical, but seems rather 
Mephistophelian. When he smiles he shows his Avhite teeth, 
and when he speaks, it is at a rapid pace and in a monotonous 
voice, as though he Avere repeating a litany. His indifferent 
attitude shoAvs that he attaches no importance AA^hateA^er to his 
OAvn words ; but his eyes are forcA^er busy in examining us. 
He affects utter indifference, but all the time betrays his pre- 
occupation of mind by the nervous Avay in Avhich, Avith dry, thin 
hands, and long nails, like a falcon's claAvs, he tells his beads. 



268 ACROSS THIBET. 

The Ta-Amban, on tlie contrary, is a fat man, with a broad,, 
long face, and enormous head, while the general appearance of 
his body, which looks like a big jar, might be indicated by four 
ovals,:- the smallest of which would stand for his head, the largest 
for his body, and the two others for his legs. His arms are 
short, and look, more like fins, his hands are plump, with small 
fingers, his chin is round and double, his cheeks are pendulous, 
and his eyes are contracted and shapeless. You would think 
him good-natured were it not for his suspicious look. He speaks 
with animation in a full round voice, smiting his knee with his 
hand, and evidently has Chinese blood in his veins. 

Concerning the Ta-Lama, we all agree that he is clever, cun- 
ning, and intelligent ; as to the Ta-Amban, he seems less intelli- 
gent, but more stubborn. 

We sit up till late, talking in the moonlight, and can hear 
Abdullah and the Doungane reciting their prayers within the 
latter's tent, a sign that the outlook seems dark to them, for it is 
only when things appear bad that they address themselves to 
Heaven. The sleep of the rest of our band, too, has been some- 
what curtailed by the events of the day. Something new has 
happened, and that is enough to excite them and keep them 
awake. 

Isa, Rachmed, Parpa, and Timour are seated cross-legged in 
the entrance of their tent, near their fire, which flickers like a 
will-o'-the-wisp, and the moon is shedding her pale light on the 
mountain, making it look smaller and flatter, and the vault of 
heaven all the deeper. Timour is gazing quietly and thought- 
fully up to the sky. 

" What are you looking at, Timour ? Is it the moon ? " I 
ask. 

" No, the Bear." 

" What are you watching it for ? " 

" I am glad to see it there, for there will be plenty of grass 
for the herds when the Bear is low in the sky after snnset." 

Rachmed, who is out of sorts and in a bad humor, interrupts : 

" Show me the Bear ? " 



COLLOQUY BETWEEN RACHMED AND TIMOUR. 269 

'' There it is," said Timoiir, stretching his hand in the direc- 
tion of sparkling Orion. 

"That is not the Bear," says E-achmed, "that is the Balance. 
You don't know what you are talking about. You had better 
keep your mouth shut than talk such nonsense. How can the 
Balance have any ettect upon the grass ? If it is a rainy season, 
or if we have had plenty of snow in winter, then thei^e are lots 
of grass, but the stars have nothing to do with it. You talk for 
the pleasure of talking. You are a real latter-day Mussulman, a 
regular donkey," etc. He then rails at Islam in general, re- 
23roaching it with being stupid and irrational, and, his wrath in- 
creasing with his words, exclaims, " You donkey ! you donkey ! " 

And poor Timour, abashed by this eloquence, can only repeat 
plaintively and suppliantly: "Rachmed aga ! Rachmed agaf'' 
(" Rachmed, my elder brother, my elder brother.") 

Rachmed ceases his reproaches, but on hearing the Douugane's 
and Abdullah's prayers his wrath bursts out again. " Listen, 
too, to those donkeys, who have faith only when they are afraid. 
Ah ! there are no more real Mussulmans, none." 

Then the wind rises, and so draws upon itself the maledictions 
which were going to fall again on poor Timour, who was still 
appealing to him as "Rachmed, my elder brother, my elder 
brother," which is a Turk's most affectionate term. Timour is 
very fond of Rachmed, who likes him in return. 

Such little scenes as this are our one and only distraction. 

March 3. — We confer with the two great chiefs, and, after 
many quarrels and reconciliations, at last convince them that we 
are neither English nor Russian, but French, and to our great 
joy extract from them the promise of a move on. 

March 7. — This morning the sun is shining brightly, and the 
snow that has fallen on the preceding days stands out on the 
mountain resplendent, dazzling. It is grand weather for our de- 
parture, though it is not a final move, for we are only moving to 
install ourselves in a better place, there to wait again. 

The camp is all astir ; on all sides are men running after their 
beasts, collecting them, driving them on with shrill whistles, and 



•270 ACROSS THIBET. 

swinging their slings. As tlieir long plaits wonld be in the way 
when they stoop, they twist tliem round their heads. 

They have great difficulty in catching their beasts, especially 
to-day, when the yaks are frightened by our camels. It is only 
after more than one fruitless attempt that they will allow them- 
selves to be caught by the horn, to which is tied the cord that is 
attached to the ring in the muzzle. Their masters have to ap- 
proach them very carefully, and can only seize them by surprise. 
Loading them is a still more difficult business; and it takes a 
tremendous time to fasten our chests on to their backs. But the 
patience of these men is endless, and they always finish by mas- 
tering the animal ; for as soon as they have got hold of it, they 
ietter it and load it, in spite of heels and horns, but never beat it. 

These Thibetans are very quick over their work. Each time 
they raise a heavy load they force out the air from their lungs 
by a vigorous hiss. They handle great weights with considerable 
ease, for their arms, though not very muscular, are tough, and set 
in solid shoulders, which are supported by deep necks, the length 
of their forearm being remarkable. Lamas, stick in hand, give 
their orders, and reprimand them; but these savages do their 
work cheerfully, and are very obedient and respectful to the 
lamas, to whom they listen in the most humble posture, with 
backs bent and hanging tongue. 

We have had some small Thibetan horses given us which are 
full of go, and which feed on raw flesh, as we have seen with 
om' own eyes. These carnivorous beasts have marvelous legs, 
and are as clever as acrobats ; they balance themselves with the 
greatest care on the ice or amid dirty bogs, and then, gaining the 
path with a bound, carry us along at a rapid trot, to which ^s^e 
have long been unaccustomed. Anyone Avould imagine that 
they find us to be as light as feathers, and we certainly look far 
more like lean hermits than fat monks. 

We soon rejoined a caravan that started before we did. The 
loaded yaks go along in utter disorder, their drivers letting them 
stop at will to eat a root, to snift' pieces of wood, perhaps to re- 
flect. In three and a half hours we rode nearly fourteen miles, 



THE SAMDA-KANSAIN CHAIN AND RIVER. 273 

lip hill and clown dale, but more often the latter, for we were to en- 
camp near a frozen river which empties its waters into the Namtso. 

Our old friend the Amban welcomed us to his tent, where a 
•delicious repast awaited us, consisting of a yak's tongue smoked, 
and, by way of vegetables, preserved salted carrots, and red and 
green pepper; then some cakes of unleavened bread, and as 
much tea and butter as we could drink. Our excellent host ad- 
mired our appetite, and kept urging us to satisfy it to the full. 

Between our camp and that of the chiefs from Lhassa are 
pitched the tents of some nomads who are driving their herds 
this way. They are, it seems, inscribed among the subjects of 
China, and pay taxes as such, " but in all other respects," says the 
Amban, " they obey us ; their tribe is that of the DJachas. In 
summer they disperse over the table-land of the north." 

When we passed by their tents, they came out to salute us, 
^nd we recognize their chief, a big toothless fellow, whom we 
had come across before reaching the Namtso. He strikes us as a 
half-bred Chinaman. To-day he wears a sort of uniform, consist- 
ing of a jacket with a red collar and adorned with copper but- 
tons bearing the numbers of English regiments in India. These 
buttons are of no earthly use to him, for they have no correspond- 
ing buttonholes, but they are the sign of wealth, the proof of a 
high situation, just because they are not actually wanted. The 
superfluous is reserved for the powerful of the earth. 

The Amban begged us to remain in his tent until ours was 
ready ; but when we told him that we should like a walk because 
we were cold, he led us back to our camp, saying, " Our customs 
forbid me to leave my guests before a shelter is ready for them. 
I will therefore accompany you." A¥e took advantage of this 
custom to ask him one or two questions : first, the name of the 
splendid chain from which rise Hue and Cabet, each this evening 
having its summit in a turban of clouds, reminding one of Persia 
and the well-known turban of the Demavend. This chain, he 
tells us, is called Samda-Kansain ; and the river, which flows 
close by, Samda-Tchou, borrowing its name from the mountain 
which feeds it. 



374 ACEOSS THIBET. 

Then we talked to him about the " serou " (imicorD), of whose 
existence Father Hue had been assured, and he told us that this 
animal lives in the Grhoorkas' country, in India, and that it has 
one horn, not on the top of the head, but on the nose, so that he 
was evidently describing the rhinoceros. 

Before sunset we perceived at an enormous heigM a large flock 
of birds making north, which we took to be geese. Very wel- 
come was the sight of them, for they seemed to be harbingers of 
the spring. Timour, too, was persuaded that the warm weather 
was really coming, for he had seen a fresh blade of grass ; and, to 
prove bis words, he got up, examined the bottom of the mountain, 
and soon returned with a blade, which he held solemnly in his 
hand, and contemplated with glad eyes — for Timour is a poet, a 
true lover of Nature. Then to bed, to dream of home, for the 
gentle Avest wind produces on this bare plain the same murmurs, 
the same plaintive sounds, as in our native woods. 

March 8. — The west wind is still blowing, and snow falls at 
intervals. The sun appears and disappears. Then the wind 
increases, the heavens are darkened, and the cold, after the 
warmth of the afternoon, is simply insupportable. In spite of 
the weather, however, the Amban pays us a visit, and again 
exhorts us to be patient, for it will take time to get all the 
things ready at Lhassa which we recjuire. Before quitting Dam 
they had drawn up, at our dictation, a long list of our require- 
ments — clothes of all sorts, shoes, hats, skins, large and small 
cymbals, and even prayers and objects of worship. They had 
promised, too, to procure us some horses, and to send them on 
here quickly. But the Amban is afraid that we may lose 
patience, for he cannot help noticing the hurry we are all in to 
start, not a single one of us having the least wish to stop here. 
The Amban insists on the purity of his intentions. " AVe look 
upon you as brothers, and our wish is to be as agreeable as 
possible to you ; and if we keep you here, it is only because we 
must await letters from our superiors at Lhassa, who are satisfied 
of your honesty. But then our ways are not like yours. We 
never hurry in business matters. There is a council which de- 



HOW TREY BO BUSIJ^ES8 AT LHA8SA. 



275 



cides all important matters, and you know that the members of 
a numerous council do not immediately agree. If it depended 
only on me, you should at once have all that you want ; but you 
see that, even here, Ave are three great chiefs and about twenty 
smaller ones. The one mistrusts the other, and it needs great 
prudence not to lay one's self open to accusation." This fear of an 
accusation — which the Amban has mentioned on previous occa- 
sions — proves that Lhassa is a hotbed of intrigue, power being 
■divided and much sought after, and that those who possess it 
guard it very jealously. 

Our guest next asks for information regarding our customs 
and manners, the position of women in our country and their 
looks ; and then he speaks of the books of the English, and of 
the astonishing inventions which they have brought to India, 
though he himself had never seen them. He expresses his 
astonishment that we should take the trouble to travel, "for,"' 
said he, " what is the good of visiting distant lands when you 
can spend your life in reading about them without leaving 
home ? I, at all events, have not the slightest wish ever to 
travel outside Thibet, for my curiosity is quite satisfied by our 
religious books." 




THE COOKING TENT. 



CHAPTER XL 

SLOW PEOGEESS. 

Breakfasting with tlie Ta-Amban and Ta-Lama — Diplomatic Indignation — Twa 
Barbarian Petty Chiefs — An Effectual Call to Order — A Sunset Scene — Feasting 
on a Sheep's Head— A "Dainty Dish" — At Soubrou— Resting at Di-Ti — Water- 
Carriers — An Entente Cordiale — Characteristics and Habits of the Natives of the 
Di-Ti Country — A Specimen of Primeval Man — Nigan : Another Stoppage — The 
Tale Lama's Presents : Sacred Objects — Return Presents — A Lama Guide — The- 
Ta-Amban's Advice — A Pet Ram — Timour, Parpa, and Isa Go Back. 




CHIEF OP DJACHAS. 



MarcJi 14. — We are invited O' 
meet the Ta-Amban and the Amban 
at breakfast in the tent of the Ta- 
Lama, who has a most sumptuous 
repast ready for us. It lasts four 
hours, during which time we pkmge 
our chopsticks into some thirty very 
rich dishes that must have cost a great 
deal, for it is by no means easy in 
Thibet to procure young palm-shoots, 
dates from India, peaches from Leh 
(lada), jujubes from Ba-Tang, berries 
from Landjou, edible seaweed, and shell-fish from the coast, etc. 
Out of all these different productions of the Asiatic cuisine a few 
are decidedly eatable, and we confine ourselves to them; but 
what we prefer to everything else is the plentiful supply of hot 
milk, in which Ave dip our dates so as to thaw them. Their 
idea, perhaps, was to win us over by such a splendid feast, but 
we remain as firm as ever when, after the tables have been re- 
moved and negotiations reopened, they beg us to wait yet a little 
longer. Our indignation bursts out anew, and we rise at once 
without listening to any more circumlocution. They are aston- 
ished at our departure; but when they see us thrashing our 

276 



TWO BARBARIAN PETTY CHIEFS. 211 

interpreter, who lias been making signs to tliem behind our 
backs, they understand that our patience is exhausted. The re- 
sult of this interrupted feast is the extraction of a promise that 
we shall make our ^vay forward. 

March 16. — We discuss the route that we shall follow. The 
chiefs undertake to show us the road to Ba-Tang ; only the stages 
are to be short, in order that the couriers expected from Lhassa 
may join us the sooner. Amidst falling snow, after a minimum 
temperature of 1 3° below zero, we begin our preparations for de- 
parture. 

The place ^vhere we are to await the couriers is called Di-Ti, 
which the Amban represents as a sort of Paradise in comparison 
with our present location, which is rendered uninhabitable by the 
incessant west wind. It seems that " down there " we shall find 
grass, brushwood. Juniper trees, corn, and moderate heat ; for we 
shall be on lower ground than here, where we are at an altitude 
of 16,170 feet. We beg the Amban to be good enough to tell 
us where Di-Ti is ; but he answers that he does not know exactly, 
and sends for two small barbarian chieftains, whom he questions 
in our presence, ^hey enter, bent double, out of deference to 
their superior, and with tongues hanging out of their mouths, 
like greyhounds in summer after chasing a hare. 

" Do you know Di-Ti ? " 

" Yes ; we are driving oui' herds there." 

'' Is it a nice place ? " 

"Yes." 

" In what direction is it ? " 

" In that." (They point northeast.) 

"Is it far?" 

"No." 

" How many ' lavere ' off is it ? " (" Lavere " corresponds in 
Thibet to " li " in China, being about a quarter of a mile.) 

" Lavere, lavere, lavere," murmur the two savages, looking at 
each other, and scratching their ears ; " we do not know their 
country," taking it for the name of a camp — a mistake that is, 
after all, intelligible on the part of savages, who have no need of 



278 ACROSS THIBET. 

precision, though we laugh at it none the less. The Amban 
therefore dismisses them, and they withdraw with deep reverence, 
thumbs raised, and tongue still hanging out. 

The lamas then set about obtaining from the Djachas yaks and 
horses enough for the whole caravan. So many are required that 
the Dtachas — or Djachougs, Tatchougs, Ttachougs, according to 
the different ways in which we hear it pronounced — refuse to 
supply us, and, getting angry, shout and threaten. Then the 
Ta-Lama summons their chiefs, who immediately on receiving the 
order appear calm, but crestfallen. The Ta-Lama bids his ser- 
vants throw open the front of his tent, and from his dais — where 
he remains sitting cross-legged, his hands in his sleeves — talks 
quietly to them. He has scarcely opened his mouth when the 
savages bend, and, in the posture of a child awaiting the cane, 
lower their heads, scarcely daring to raise their eyes, and cry 
humbly : 

" Lalesse, lalesse ! " (We are ready.) 

And when the Ta-Lama, in conclusion, says to them, still in 
his quiet tones : 

" Is it possible that you would displease the Djongoro Boutch " 
(the living Buddha) " and the Ta-Lama " (Great Lama) ? 

" No," they reply, groaning and falling on their knees. 

" Very well ; then obey." 

" Lalesse, lalesse ! It is all right." 

A servant thereupon bids them retire, which they do back- 
ward, in the respectful attitude of the country. The tent is again 
closed, and the chiefs draw themselves up, and quite good- 
humoredly return to their own tents. 

Convinced that we are now really about to start, I spend a few 
moments in admiring the scene, and am straightway lost in 
ecstasy before a scene which Messrs. Cook can promise to their 
clients when, in years to come, they have organized trips to Thi- 
bet. To describe it, however, would take another pen than mine. 
I can but gaze thoughtfully, as do the shepherds on the table- 
lands, at the splendid chain of the Ningling Tanla, as its snow- 
capped peaks are lost in the gold of the sunset. The light va- 



" THE GATHERING OF TENTS AT TACHEr 279 

porous atmospliere, is, so to speak, impregnated witli this golden 
light ; while behind ns the Samda-Kansain lies bathed in violet 
tints, and above it are clustered thick snow-clouds, through 
wdiich, rent by the wind, are seen here and there patches of blue 
sky. 

March 18. — We start in a northeasterly direction. The 
weather is splendid, but the reflection of the sun on the snow 
literally scorches our faces and eyes. We learn on the road that 
between here and Tatsien-lou there are eighty more or less diffi- 
cult passes. It is the intei'preter with the long tooth who tells 
me that he once counted them when going to Lhassa by this 
route ; he also informs us that there are very few spots in Thibet 
w^here it is possible to grow a little wheat, though they have 
good crops of barley. As to the other cereals, including rice, 
they import them from India. At night we encamp in a valley 
at Tache-Rovo, which means, in the language of the steppes, "the 
gathering of tents at Tache," though we had seen only three or 
four tents on the whole stage, in the mouths of gorges, near the 
ice. 

Besides lending us some yak-drivers, our friends have also pro- 
vided us wdth two men whose business it is to collect fuel for our 
iires. This evening they arrive with their gleanings in a sack, 
which they empty at the entrance of our servants' tent ; and after 
being greeted with reproaches— uttered, however, in a very ami- 
able tone of voice, and in Turkish — they venture to sit down by 
the fire, and our men make them a present of the head of a sheep 
which they have just killed, in the Mussulman style, by severing 
the carotid arteries. They accept it with effusion when Timour 
hands it to them, though they had turned their eyes away during 
the bloody sacrifice of a living cieature. The observant Timour 
is astonished at their conduct, and remarks, " Just now, when Isa 
took his knife, they rushed upon him, and, holding his arm, 
begged him to let them kill the animal, by strangling it with a 
cord round its nose. How could men eat a beast that has not 
been bled to death ? When Isa killed it, they set to praying, and 
now they will gladly eat it. Singular people ! " 



280 ACROSS THIBET. 

The two men, being very hungry after their walk, hastily 
prepare their meal. They put a little water on the fire in some 
small eartheuAvare pots, and when it is tepid, fill a wooden cup. 
They then take some meal out of long bags, sprinkle it with 
water, stir it round with their thumbs, and drink it ; licking up 
the meal which sticks to the sides of the cup with their enor- 
mous tono-ues, which serve alike to show respect and admiration, 
and to act as spoons. Whilst they are drinking this " soup " to 
allay the pangs of hunger, the water begins to boil. They now 
pour it into their cups, put in some butter, likewise taken from 
a bag, and add a pinch of salt and a handful of meal. This 
mixture they then make into balls, which they go on eating 
until they have had enough ; afterward they take a little walk. 
When they return they proceed to occupy themselves with the 
sheep's head. From a leathern sheath each draws a small knife 
with pointed blade, such as even the women all wear at their 
waists, and cut the already frozen head to pieces. Then they 
draw near the fire and thaw it, burning off the wool in the 
flames. The skin being removed, they cut out and eat the 
gums ; then, in order to get at the tongue, they draw a long 
saber, with which they split the jaw open at the joints, removing 
both the tongue and the gullet, which they put in their wallets. 
One takes the lower jaw, and gets Avhat he can off it, just like a 
dog would, while the other cleans the skull. The first gouges 
out the eyes, which he swallows with great relish ; then when 
they have got off everything in the way of meat, and have satis- 
fied their hunger, they throw the lower part of the head to the 
doo-s, w^ho certainly will not get much oft' it, and put aside for 
to-morrow the skull, which still contains the brains. The culi- 
nary art is certainly in its infancy in Thibet, and we shall still, 
for a long time, be the only persons who have ever partaken of 
cabbage soup there. Moreover, even the highest personages do 
not seem to have developed a delicate palate ; the Amban him- 
self, when in a hurry, eating balls of zamba. This afternoon, 
too, we happened to see at dinner the two interpreters — one of 
whom is, it seems, a lama endowed with a rich " stall." They 



DAINTY DISH." 



281 



had been served with a cup containing, at the bottom, a morsel 
of rancid butter and some meal. These they kneaded together, 
then adding some slices of frozen cheese, which was also worked 
in ; they next minced into it a slice of frozen mutton, and then, 
to complete the dainty dish, they moistened it with tea and 




THIBETAN SAVAGES ROUND A FIRE. 



Ibntter, finally making the whole mixture into balls, some of 
which they offered to us, as they saw that we were watching 
their preparations with great curiosity. 

This powdered mixture is, ^vith the addition of a little salt, 
eatable, and must be satisfying ; while the making of it is an 
amusing pastime when you have nothing else to do, as was evi- 
dently the case with our lamas. 

March 19. — We advance as far as Soubrou, to reach which we 
have to make numerous detours. The weather is abominable, 
for it is snowing, and the wind is blowing from the west with 
extreme violence. At Soubrou there are some twenty tents in a 
grassy valley, which is reached by a steep pass. 

March 21. — After crossing a table-land we reach Di-Ti, where 
we drop do^vn into an amphitheater, formed by gently undulat- 



282 ACROSS THIBET. 

ing liills. In tlie direction of Lliassa there are some heights 
white with snow, but we see very little to the east and north. 

Di-Ti is on the main road from Naptchou to Lhassa, that of 
the Tsaidame and of the Koukou-Nor rising southward. We 
remain three days at Di-Ti, which is inhabited by a considerable 
number of nomads, who own large flocks of yaks and sheep that 
are swarming in every direction. They seem also to occupy 
themselves with the breeding of horses, some forty of which 
come to drink in the spring near our tent, and are larger than 
any we have come across so far, and with good legs and feet. 
No one is looking after them. Some distance away from our little 
fountain there is another, to which the people of the encamp- 
ment go to draw their water, which they carry away in wooden 
jars. Attached to their loins they have a small cushion, and on 
this they place the jar with loose straps, which pass over their 
shoulders. The difficulty is to keep the jar so well balanced 
that no water is spilt on the way. To do this they walk with a 
forward stoop, the body forming nearly a right angle with the 
legs. A Thibetan couple came in quest of water whilst I w^as 
there. The wife filled the jar by means of a wooden cup, whilst 
the husband chatted with an acquaintance ; she then helped him 
to fix the jar, which done, he went off, leaving his " better half " 
to get hers up as best she could. This she did by kneeling 
down and then carefully rising, like a beast of burden, as she 
really was. 

March 24. — The maximum temperature in the sun reaches 
89° Fahrenheit. But the west wind still troubles us at times, 
though, it is true, it also provides us with something to talk 
about, driving before it on the plain clouds of dust, which assume 
very singular shapes. At one time you might fancy that an im- 
mense dragon with bent back was advancing, at another that a 
scorpion was crawling along with head and tongue raised, or again 
you might think you were looking at rows of trees with bushy 
foliage and leafy arches. All this time, however, we never for- 
get the object we have in view, w^hich is to reach Ba-Tang ; and 
at last, after a warlike display, we extract a promise that we 



THE NATIVES OF THE DI-TI COUNTRY. 283 

shall be directed there. But the stages must be short, for the 
couriers from Lhassa have not yet arrived ; and so the Ta-Lama 
and the Ta-Amban, who have decided not to keep us waiting 
here any longer, send a special courier to Lhassa to hasten the 
dispatch of the various articles we require, and of the other 
horses and presents from the authorities. Then we start. Every 
risk of a misunderstanding has now disappeared. Thibetans and 
Frenchmen are in thorough accord, and they, as well as we, are 
of opinion that the authorities at Lhassa are abusing our pa- 
tience, and that bureaucracy has its disadvantages, though it may 
sometimes have its advantas!:es. 

Before I proceed mth the account of our journey I would say 
a word or two about the inhabitants of this country, who are 
well-to-do and prosperous, especially when compared with the 
first shepherds whom we met. More favorable conditions have 
on the men the same effect as on the yaks and horses ; all of 
them are more vigorous here, and they are even slightly taller. 
The types, as I have said before, are very varied. Some have a 
long nose and a broad face, others a snub nose and a long face ; 
others, again, a long nose and a long face. They have, however, 
some points in common. Their chins are. often prominent be- 
cause they are frequently toothless, and their lips are very thick 
because the cold makes them swell, and because they continually 
use them, their shortness of breath making them wheeze. Again, 
when they stop they stand erect, very straight on their legs, 
which are a little apart ; their gait is Jerky, their glance shifting 
and rapid, though sometimes fixed ; their gestures are abrupt ; 
and they walk with short irregular steps, as though their thoughts 
were intermittent, and their brains suggested actions by fits and 
starts in intervals of wakefulness. In fact, all their gestures 
suggest a lack of mental cohesion and a poverty of ideas. 

They are careless and cheerful in disposition, and after a long 
day's march they go to look for the yaks, singing and laughing, 
some bringing in the droppings for fuel, while others carry 
sheets of ice in the skirts of their cloaks. They tie up their 
yaks in a half -circle, chattering all the time ; at night prepare 



284 ACBOSS THIBET. 

tLe cords for the morning, and, having eaten their zamba, put 
their wallets round the fire ; and then, loosening the girdle of 
their cloaks, throw themselves down on the ground side by side, 
the one who is most exposed to the wind protecting himself 
with a coarse mantle. Lying there, huddled together like sheep, 
they exchange a few words, and then fall asleep under the stars, 
with the temperature below zero. 

March 27. — As we advance we find the country more thickly 
populated, and it seems as though the desert is coming to an 
end. 

Marcli 28. — This is a day never to be forgotten. The road 
we are following is that of Sininfou ; it is d.otted with numerous 
trees, under which are massed together numberless prayers en- 
graved on slabs of schist, with attempts at ornamentation — 
roses, for example, each petal of which contains a syllable of the 
^' Om mane padme houm," images of Buddha, of Tsong Kaba 
the reformer, and of the Tale Lama, sketched in outline on 
plates, or molded in clay — each of these holy personages having 
his head enveloped in a hood and surrounded with a halo. The 
road winds across the broad plains, interspersed with valleys 
and ravines, and topped toward the southwest by white ridges 
which intercept the horizon. We are at a height of barely 16,000 
feet, and it is less painful to breathe. The wind has fallen, and 
before us slowly gather large white clouds, above which the sky 
is a spotless blue, while below larks are singing, and small rats 
are running about on the ground. 

It is hot, really hot, and the warm breeze, as it caresses our 
cheeks, produces cjuite a novel sensation, for we had lost all rec- 
ollection of so pleasant a feeling. We advance in the best of 
spirits, urged on by our horses, which kee23 their noses in our 
backs. Then we mount them, and for the first time since last 
autumn our feet are really warm in the stirrup, even " on the 
shady side," although it does not thaw there as yet. 

The Amban, followed by his escort, joins us and salutes us — 
mth a very good pronunciation — in the few French words that 
we have taught him. 



A SPECIMEN OF PRIMEVAL MAN. 287 

" Bonjour,'' lie says, " commeut vous portez-vous ? " 

" Very well," we answer. 

" Bien, bien," he repeats with a smile. 

He raises his whip, and his horse starts oft' at a trot, for he is 
anxious to arrive first, so as to prepare the encampment. 

But here is a Thibetan horseman, who arrives at a gallop, 
with his rifle slung over his shoulders, and a little red flag float- 
ing from the sight. From his girdle hangs a saber with glitter- 
ing incrustations ; his right arm is freed from his cloak, and his 
shoulder is bare, and he excites his horse by swinging his sling. 
He is a good specimen of a wild horseman, and the picture is 
heightened by his fox-skin cap, with long ear-flaps hanging 
down, from under which appear a few loose hairs and a long 
plait, which keeps hitting his shoulders. 

Next comes a lama, wearing a hood and closely wrapped up, 
accompanying some yaks that are loaded with precious objects. 
He joins our party, reciting his prayers aloud, and salutes us 
with an amiable smile, though without interrupting a single let- 
ter of his litany. Then we pass three men on foot who are pur- 
suing their yaks, whistling and waving their right arms about. 
The body of one is quite bare, and displays a rounded chest ; he 
is stout and broad-shouldered. With his muscular right arm he 
balances a long javelin with a bamboo handle, attached to his 
wrist by a copper bracelet. To show his skill he throws it in 
the air and catches it again, then shifts it from one hand to the 
other and round his body, brandishing it as though about to 
strike, with all the grace of a skilled matador. He walks wdth 
a supple swing, he is young, his jaws and square chin are promi- 
nent, and his upper lip is arched with the insolent curl of a beast 
that knows its own strength. His nose is short, with broad nos- 
trils ; his bushy hair hangs long, like a mane, covering his small 
eyes and foreshortening his face, causing his head, with its thick 
neck, to look still broader and less human. You would think 
you had before you a roughhewn specimen of primeval man, 
who was proud in the possession of his first firearm. 

But it is time to return to the Amban's tent to partake of tea 



288 ACROSS THIBET. 

and butter, boiled mutton, smoked tongues, and even Indian 
curry — for they quite spoil us. Everyone is most polite — so 
much so, in fact, that we no longer dare even look at them, for 
fear of seeing those monstrous tongues hanging out. 

We have reached Nigan, at a height of 15,900 feet, and it is 
here that we shall have to wait for the last time before setting 
out for Ba-Tang, whence we shall be conveyed by the aid of the 
Ta-Lama, for the oracles have been favorable to us. 

We employ this last stoppage in doing up our baggage again, 
lookins: over and arranoinar the skins which we have dressed on 
the road. We get rid of everything that is not absolutely nec- 
essary, and organize the caravan of those who will leave us to 
return to the Lob Nor. The Ta-Lama undertakes to put them 
in charge of some pilgrims who are returning to Mongolia by the 
Tsaidame, and once there they will continue their journey alone 
by the Kalmucks' road. We now feel quite close to Tonquin, 
for, though thousands of miles lie between it and us, at Ba-Tang 
we shall again tread known ground. Then doubt, which is the 
defect or perhaps it should rather be said, the good point of old 
travelers, reappears. The horizon darkens, and in the far dis- 
tance obstacles arise. However, things are turning out remark- 
ably well. 

March 31. — After a calm night and a minimum of 4° below 
zero, a hurricane bursts over us, and. a fearful squall carries off the 
square tents of the Thibetans. Ours resist the force of the storm^ 
and are merely invaded by clouds of dust. 

April 2. — At last the Amban comes beaming to tell us that 
the Tale Lama's presents have arrived, as well as all the things 
which we asked for, and to invite us to come to his tent, where 
the Ta-Lama and the Ta- Amban await us. We are very well 
received by these great chiefs, and have a long talk with them. 
Then the presents are spread out before our eyes — costumes of 
women, men, lamas, and other great personages ; every imagina- 
ble headgear, objects of veneration, skins, prayer-mills, perfumed 
wood, and even packets of prayers. They explain to us the use 
of each object, and tell us its name, its material, and its origin.. 



THE TALE LAMA'S PRESENTS. 



289' 



On examining the costumes we are surprised to find many 
European fashions among them — crinolines, pinafores, earrings, 
a coiffure in form of a diadem, and every form of bonnet, inchid- 
ing caps with flaps for the ears, hoods, and a minister's (kalouii)' 




A THIBETAN SALUTING. 



hat, which is astonishingly like that of a cardinal, Avith its cords^ 
and tassels. Among the sacred objects are bells, chaplets, and 
lights to remind us of the Catholic ritual. Our first idea is that 
these objects are relics of a time when the Thibetans doubtless, 
professed the same faith as we do, and though they have now 



290 ACB0S8 THIBET. 

long lost it, tliey have retained some of its externals. But with 
regard to these questions I must refer my readers to the admi- 
rable narrative of Father Hue, and to the works of our mission- 
aries in Thibet, Biet, Desgodins, etc., who have studied them 
still more closely than Father Hue, and with an ability to which 
I cannot pretend. During the interview they cram us with but- 
ter, tea, and dainties ; aromatics are burning all the time, and often 
a servant enters with a perfume box, which he sprinkles over the 
hot coals ; the first cloud is addressed to Buddha, and the second 
is offered to us, and passed under, and even up, our noses. They 
treat us as though we were gods. But the certainty that we are 
at last really going toward Ba-Tang contributes even more than 
these attentions to put us one and all in good-humor. The Am. 
ban manifests his great pleasure at things having come to so nice 
a conclusion, for, in his character of intermediary between his 
chiefs and us, he has been exposed to the rebuffs and maledic- 
tions of both parties whenever he had to tell them that he had 
failed in the mission intrusted to him. 

The horses destined for us arrived this evening, and excellent 
ones they are too, but not shod, and our endeavors to fix shoes 
on them are all in vain, for their hoofs are so hard, dry, and 
friable that the nails either bend, fail to hold, or break the 
hoofs. 

April 4. — We have offered our presents in return to the Thi- 
betans, regarding it as a point of honor to surpass their gener- 
osity, so that we almost emptied our packets in making them 
happy. Revolvers, watches, mirrors, as well as knives and scis- 
sors, were in great request, while gold coin and silver rubles 
were highly appreciated. Small change, too, was accepted with 
pleasure, for they will serve as buttons in the Chinese fashion. 
As it is, two or three lamas of high rank have buttons formed 
of quarter rupees. 

They all seemed to be very pleased with our offerings, but 
whether or not we actually succeeded in satisfying the wants of 
the forty or fifty chief servants with whom we had had to do, I 
cannot say. At all events, when we parted, our farewell had 



RETURN PRESENTS. 



291 




THE LAMA GUIDE. 



'every appearance of cordiality, and they left nothing undone to 
facilitate our journey as far as Ba-Tang, supplying us with pro- 
yisions, such as rice, meal, barley, beans, and small peas, and 



292 A0B0S8 THIBET. 



giviug US advice as to what we should be able to purchase on 
the road, aud what we must save up. 

They gave us a lama to act as our guide, and present us to 
the chiefs of the numberless tribes we shall encounter. He is a 
great, strong fellow of about twenty-five, looks very good- 
natured, and later on proved himself a man with a good head, 
very cool, and very astute. His superiors urge him to serve us 
faithfully, and obey us promptly, and to insure his doing so^ 
make him j)resents before we start, and promise him still better 
ones if he brings back proofs of our satisfaction. This youug 
lama, who has already been this journey once, will be accom- 
panied by a long-haired chief, whose business it is to maintain 
order amongst the score of savages who are to transport our 
baggage and supplies by means of some sixty yaks. In a fort- 
night this chief will make way for another, to whom he will 
liaud over the Ta-Lama's orders, and so on, as long as we are on 
ground that is subject to them, while the lamas of independent 
tribes will help us at the request of our lama. 

The Ta-Amban, who has been to Ba-Tang, and knows the 
tribes that we shall meet, gave us some very fatherly advice 
with regard to them. " You will, on the road, meet with some 
wild tribes, whose ways are very rough, for they are totally un- 
civilized; but only have patience with them, and all will be 
well. The worst you will find near Ba-Tang, and when you 
reach that district be on your guard, for a European was once 
killed there, and a Chinese mandarin stoned. Do not, therefore, 
neglect measures of precaution. As for us, we shall pray for 
you, and we can only hope that you will have a prosperous 
journey." 

The Ta-Lama approved of this advice, and promised us his 
prayers, which he thinks will be efficacious. We then shook 
hands with them, and mounted our horses; and amidst the 
farewell salutations of the whole body, chiefs and all, a start 
was made. 

A few miles further on we encamped for the night, and the 
Amban caught us up to assure himself of the perfect organiza- 



1 



A PET BAM. 



393 



tiou of our caravan, and to watch over the safe return to their 
own country of those of our servants who are leaving us. 

Great are the rejoicings of our whole band, including the 
three dogs w^ho gambol ai'ound us. Even our ram executes 
a fantasia — for we have with us, as a companion of our travels, a 




AN ATTENDANT OF THE AMBAN. 



big ram from Kourla. He is quite tame, and we have not sacri- 
ficed him to our hunger. Now he is everybody's friend, is per- 
mitted to sleep in a tent, takes bread from our hands, and even 
scents it out, and abstracts it from our bags for himself. Though 
a sheep, he is very courageous, charging dogs and horses, and 
when we purchase other sheep, butts them out of jealousy. At the 
beginning of our travels, before we got into the Lob Nor district, 
he used to mix with the others and lead them, but now he will 
neither follow his fellows nor walk with the baggage. Nothing 



294 ACROSS THIBET. 

less tlian tlie society of his masters will satisfy him, and he runs 
bleating behind us as though to complain that we are going too 
fast. Macha, for that is his name, has often cheered our droop- 
ing spirits, and still more often aroused the astonishment of the 
Thibetans by his size, and especially by his enormous fat tail. 

April 5. — The return of Timour, Parpa, Isa, and the three 
Doungaues was settled yesterday, and they have received all that 
they require, provisions, horses, money, and some presents. But 
our three Mussulmans asked permission to spend the night with 
their comrades, and to help them in starting for the east to-day. 
They assist them in packing the tent, superintend the loading, 
and exchange a few small objects which will remind them of each 
other. 

Whilst they are loading our yaks, we go to the Amban's tent 
to eat at his table for the last time. He gives a glass of spirits 
to all who ask for it, not knowing that men should never drink 
when traveling ; and when the meal is over, there is soon a 
slight uproar which prevents the Amban and I from convers- 
ing. And Abdullah, our interpreter, does not miss this chance 
of getting intoxicated, so he cannot translate our remarks. The 
meeting is, therefore, brought to a close, and the Amban and his 
men accompany us on foot to our camp, where we find our three 
servants and Rachmed. The last yak is now loaded, part of our 
heavy baggage is already far ahead, and we must part. We com- 
mend once more, and for the last time, our three servants to the 
Amban's care, and then cordially shake hands with these honest 
fellows, whom we shall, doubtless, never see again. When we 
wish them good health and a safe return home, and beg them not 
to forget us, they burst into tears, fall on their knees, and kiss 
our hands, sobbing bitterly. 

They then press Rachmed, Abdullah, and Akkan to their 
breasts, and those who are bound for the coast Aveep as well as 
those who are returning home. All these men have been con- 
nected with us in circumstances amidst which men cannot conceal 
their real character, or be independent of their neighbors. They 
have suffered together, have had to help each other, and have 



A PARTING. 295 

learnt to esteem and really like each other. And now their 
hearts are very sad at parting. Their evident affection for us 
cannot but touch us, for it is spontaneous, and proceeds from men 
of energy, from adventurers, perhaps, who are capable of doing 
one a bad turn, but whom we have made better men. They, 
too, are convinced that we like them, for we have taken as much 
care of them as of ourselves, and never have we exacted from 
them an eifort which was not needful, or reproached them with- 
out cause. 

Again we shake hands with the Amban and his companions, 
who have been greatly moved by this scene, and he promises us 
that he will pray for us. And so we set out accompanied for 
several yards by Parpa and his companions, who hold our horses' 
bridles as a mark of their respect. 

We must, however, separate, and they raise their hands to 
their beards with a " Great is Allah ! " and we there leave them 
desolate and in tears. 



THIBETAN HORSEiMAN. 



CHAPTER XII. 



so AND ITS MONASTEEY. 

At Gatine— The River Ourtcliou— A Hermit Lama— " Steeped in Luxury " — At Djau- 
counnene — Meeting a Caravan — Resemblance Between Thibetans and Other Peoples 
— Thumb Language — A Droll Native — The Thibetans Not Fanatics— On the Banks 
of the Ourtchou— At Tandi— The Thibetan Sling — A Superb Mountain Scene— A 
Sight of Plowed Land — First View of the Monastery of So— The ' ' Delicious 
Odor " of Wood — A Concierge in Thibet — Native Money — A Commission of 150 per 
cent. — Plowing at So — Crossing the Satchon — A Bearded Thibetan — Why Dishonest 
Chiefs are Popular. 

OuE first stage to Ba-Tang 
lies throngli a valley that 
varies in breacltli from one 
to four miles, witli encamp- 
ments in the gorges, and 
herds on the ridges. The 
Ourtchou, which flows down 
it, is, it seems, one of the three 
great tributaries of the Napt- 
chou, which has several 
smaller ones as well. After 
four hours on horseback we 
encamp on a slight elevation, 
at a place called, as our guide 
tells us, Gatine. 

Our tent is pitched on the 
edge of a rapid stream, from 
which all the ice and snow 
have disappeared, except in its creeks. AVe have descended 
some hundred yards whilst following first the bottom of the val- 
ley, and then the low hills that skirt it on the right. On the 
eastern slopes, a little vegetation is visible, consisting of brush- 
wood half a foot high, which bears in Central Asia the generic 

296 




MONUMENT NEAK THE MONASTERY OF SO. 



AT GATINE. 297 

name of " camel's tail," aucl this suffices to " f urnisli " tlie land- 
scape a little. The path is at times very stony, and at the lower 
end of the valley grows that stalky, strong grass, which is the 
despair of thinly shod people. Our direction is at present north- 
east, soon to change to east ; in order to strike a road which, 
though far from being the straighter of the two, is, we are as- 
sured, the better for beasts of burden. We must needs follow 
our guide, for the simple reason that we cannot argue with him, 
from want of information, books having taught us nothing about 
this district, which is blank on the map. However, we think we 
recognize on the Russian maps the spot which we ought to reach 
in ten days, if our yak-drivers are right. Its name is So (written 
Sok), and we shall find there, they tell us, a large monastery- 
Our stay at Gatine is most enjoyable ; at 3 p. m. the thermometer 
marks 41° in the shade. Taking my gun, I go for a walk on the 
table-land, and feel a real pleasure in being quite alone, without 
any of the Thibetans with whom we have to talk for hours. 

The shadows gradually darken on the mountain side, which 
does not look steep. It seems, b)^ insensible degrees, to form 
stages up to the very top, so as not to put the climber out of 
breath. Northward the horizon is still bathed in light, whilst 
over the valley float trails of bluish smoke betraying the pres- 
ence of tents. The quiet is delicious, broken only by the larks, 
lustily trilling their love songs. Presently the night begins to 
fall. The sun is lost to sight, after seeming to rest a moment 
on the bend of the table-land to the west. No soonei', however, 
has he run his daily course, than the moon rises in the east, like 
an immense ball of gold, in the direction of Ba-Tang. Then, 
suddenly, two wolves appear on the top of a snow-hill, but, see- 
ing me, stop, and after a moment's reflection, turn tail. As they 
were out of range at first, and are now far away, it is useless to 
think of following them, so I return to the camp to warn our 
men that they must protect our flock of sheep. They accord- 
ingly tie the older ones together, nose to nose, by their 
horns, and the others, of their own accord, creep in between 
them. Over sixty yaks are also attached, in a ring, to a cord 



298 ACROSS THIBET. 

fixed close to the ground, so as to form, with tlieir hairy bodies,. 
a wall round our tents and sheep, a small gap being left in the 
circle so that we may have an open path to draw water from 
the stream. The horses are left to wander at will around the 
camp, as we know that they are accustomed and able to protect 
themselves against the w^olves, and in case of danger our dogs 
will give the alarm. 

Our drivers having asked us to start early the following morn- 
ing, so that the yaks may have time to graze during the day, we 
soon get supper ready, consisting of boiled mutton, which we 
attack with a good appetite. Above us shine the stars, though 
very feebly, in the dazzling moonshine ; a gentle breeze comes: 
from the south, not a single cloud is to be seen, and the heavens 
display all their grandeur, the mountains being reduced, under 
so magnificent a vault, to the size of mere molehills. 

The road is no longer dull as it was in winter ; the landscape 
is more varied, game is abundant and furnishes plenty of dis- 
traction. Our collection becomes by degrees our chief pre- 
occupation, for the nomads we come across are as affable as 
possible. They live in black tents, drinking the milk of their 
cows, which they cross with yaks. They have sheep with very 
fine wool, and also small goats about the size of our kids. The 
goats are generally black, with long drooping hair like the yaks, 
small horns, and legs that look short but are undoubtedly 
strong, as is proved by their bounds and speed ; they weigh 
from eleven to thirteen pounds. The wives of the Thibetan 
shepherds have to do nearly all the work, but they enjoy full 
liberty, and are not unsociable, freely approaching our camp, sit- 
ting down by the side of our Thibetans, and soon getting to be 
on good terms with them. 

April 6. — We have been lost in admiration of the dwelling 
of a hermit lama perched on the mountain, on the left bank of 
the river Ourtchou, between Gatine and Tsatang, for it is so 
long since we have seen anything like a house. This looked a 
very large one, but our lama told us that it was very small, just 
large enough for one person. With the help of our glasses we 



A HERMIT LAMA. 299' 

could make out a rectangle of chalk walls, a veranda, and the 
frames of one window and one door, so that it must really be 
quite small. But it was bathed in sunshine, and looked so white 
and cheerful that we could not pity the monk who has retired 
there, away from the distractions of the world. We asked our 
lama how this recluse could live, and he pointed to the tents 
that are pitched lower down in the valley : " They give him all 
he needs ; whenever he wants anything, he goes down to those 
tents and prays, then they fill his wallet, and he returns home." 

Considerable difficulty is experienced in getting our yaks to 
cross the river. For the breaking up of the frost is now near at 
hand, and the edges are already clear of ice ; and we have to 
enter the water, then mount on ice, repeating this performance 
several times before gaining the opposite bank. The laden yaks 
break through and fall into the water, only extricating themselves 
with great difficulty, and after wetting our baggage, though it is 
protected by felt wrappings. 

The width of the river varies from 160 to 350 feet, and in 
flood may be 470 feet near Tsatang, where it spreads out. Then 
it penetrates the mountain, which contracts it, and causes it to 
wind gently. Near Gatine it broadens out and forms eyots, on 
which we see and kill casarkas — the same, I think, that are 
found in Turkestan and called in Turkish, if I remember aright, 
"dourna." Along this same river, too, we kill some geese with 
heads striped with black, ducks exactly like those of the Lob 
Nor, white gulls, and a crane, such as Prjevalsky first described. 

All our wants are supplied at encampments which we come 
across ; very good mutton, plenty of milk, fuel, water in skins, 
when we are no longer on the banks of the river, and fodder for 
our beasts. We are short of nothing, so well does our lama, 
seconded by a young chief who has a long plait of hair, look 
after us ; in fact they take as much care of us as if they were our 
sons. Compared to the life we were leading only a short time 
ago, and especially before we reached Dam, we feel ourselves 
positively steeped in luxury. 

Now and again we meet with hunters carrying matchlocks,. 



300 ACROSS THIBET. 

forks, and lauces, Avitli powerful dogs in leash, loug-haired, like 
our shepherds' dogs, and witli broad heads shaped like that of a 
bear. Many of these dogs are black, with reddish-brown spots, 
this latter being generally the color of their cliests and paws, as 
is the case with the hares to the south of the higher table-lands. 
We collect quantities of small birds, and come across black 
divers, black monkeys, and dark brown bears. 

In proportion as we advance the natives improve in face and 
form, and we are much struck by their gayety and ligkt-liearted- 
ness. The women smear their faces with butter, and, as they 
never wash, the butter catches tlie smoke and dust and becomes 
a regular mask of soot. We can only suppose that tkey do this 
in order to protect their faces against the biting winds. 

A2)ril 8. — At Djaucounnene, after turning in an easterly 
direction on quitting a pass, we for the first time meet a caravan- 
Bags are piled up to form a wall beliind wkicli the travelers take 
shelter, wliilst their yaks graze close by. They are transporting 
barley and meal from So to Lhassa. As they approach we are 
struck by the breadth, of their faces, and the slant of their eyes, 
which turn upward at the corners ; they are dressed just like 
our drivers, but are much taller. 

At first sight, a new people presents a Avell-defined general 
type ; but, on looking more closely, and examining it well, this 
apparent uniformity is found to be qualified by considerable 
variety. We are even astonished to find a resemblance in our 
Thibetans to certain other nations, and even to friends and ac- 
quaintances of ours. Here, for instance, is one with a perfect 
Greek profile, as shown on the best cameos. His neighbor, on 
the other hand, is of the redskin type, with receding brow and 
arched nose, like an eagle's beak, whilst he walks with head 
slightly thrown back. By his side is a young lad, singing as he 
prepares some meat for sausages, cutting it on the pommel of his 
saddle ; with his dark eyes and regular features, and hair falling 
over his forehead, he mio-ht be an Italian. What we can afiirm 
as a fact is that we are in the presence of a white people, that 
has nothing in common with those of a yellow complexion but 



OUR TAK DRIVERS. 



301 



the absence of beard, wbicli is, however, amply compensated by 
ihe quantity of hair they have on their heads; in fact, it is not 
Tinusnal to see even old men with plaits as thick as a cable. 

Our yak drivers are always busy, content with little sleep, 
and ever cheerful; all the time they are getting their beasts ready 




THIBKTAN OP THE REDSKIN TYPE. 



they hum an air, and finish the loading in a twinkle. They are 
indefatigable walkers, and some of them climb the steepest hill- 
sides singing and without losing breath ; in fact, they breathe with 
greater ease than do their yaks, though we should bear in mind 
that these latter are loaded. Deep-chested, these men have well- 
set necks, of average length. To-day Eachmed made them a 
present of half a sheep, as a proof of our being well satisfied 
with them. Using their knives with the greatest dexterity, they 
put the best pieces aside, ate the head raw, as we had seen them 
do before, and proceeded to cook the rest by throwing the infe- 
rior pieces into hot water, the feet with the wool still on them, 
and the intestines scarcely cleansed. 



302 ACIiOSS THIBET. 

They are excellent mimics, and speak very well, witli gestures^ 
and play of features. I have already explained that they express 
disaf>-reement by joining the thumb nails, and agreement by put- 
tin »■ them just the opposite way. Putting the thumb up means 
approval and satisfaction ; raising the little finger denotes hostil- 
ity, while to keep it in this position and at the same time to 
shake the head signifies dislike. The two thumbs placed per- 
pendicularly one above the other, with the tongue hanging out, 
denote superlative approval. 

The old man who was photographed, prayer mill in hand, is 
very droll and fond of jokes. Our interpreter Abdullah amuses 
himself by saluting him in Thibetan. When the old man replies, 
with astounding seriousness, Abdullah asks him how he salutes 
a chief like the Amban, and the old man lolls out his tongue and 
bows low ; and when anyone speaks to him of the Ta- Amban 
(Great Amban), he expresses the deepest degree of humility by 
scratching himself behind the ear. We laugh, and the Thibetans 
themselves are amused by this little comedy. 

It often happens that our lama prays out loud, as well as the 
young chief, his companion. Then Abdullah begins to imitate 
their different intonations of voice, so that we could not tell 
which was which ; far from being angry, they all, " clerics " as 
well as laymen, begin to laugh. This does not suggest religious 
fanaticism ; they seem, indeed, to content themselves w^ith the 
forms and externals of religion, as the sole manifestation of their 
faith. Our old chief occupies his leisure moments in turning his 
prayer mill from right to left, even when walking, and often 
mumbles a litany. Men who believe in the transmigration of souls, 
and to whom intellectual exercise is a thing unknown, can only 
occupy themselves usefully, when neither legs nor arms are work- 
ing, in reciting formulae under the impression that they will thus 
secure for themselves a better existence. 

April 9. — The day before yesterday we left the river Ourtchou 
to ascend one of its tributaries, called the Botchou ; on the 8th 
we traversed a table-land and a pass into a valley where the 
Ourtchou flows in a southeasterly direction. We therefore had 



THE OURTCIIOU. 



303 



again to leave it, and to-day we ascended a small river toward 
the east, encamping at the upper end of a valley, at the foot of a 
pass which we shall ascend to-morrow. We are at present at 
an altitude of from 15,000 to 16 000 feet. In the valleys, where 




YAK DKIVER WITH PRAYEK MILL. 



grass is to be found, we saw some tents and flocks. Three men 
whom we met were as nuich alike as three brothers could be. 
They were all short, and had the round heads, and. straight noses 
with narrow bridges, of Romans. All three were toothless, and 



304 ACROSS THIBET. 

witli tlieir lower lips droopiug on to their round chins, they re- 
called the busts of Nero. 

We are now on the banks of the Omtchou, but shall have to 
leave it, for it, too, flows southeast, as far as we can tell, as is the- 
case with most of the rivers in this region. 

April 10. — A pass leads us to a small river, then another lime- 
stone pass, with obos, on which our Thibetans do not fail to de- 
posit stones with a prayer ; then another valley, and a river to 
cross, and finally a steppe from three to four miles broad, which 
seems a vast plain. Through it flows the Satchou, which is 
from 100 to 200 feet broad. According to what our lama and 
the old chief say, we have now crossed the four principal tribu- 
taries of the Kitchou, which flows by Lhassa, viz., the Ourtchou, 
the Poptchou, the Omdjamichou, and the Satchou. 

April 12. — We have a sharp white frost during the night, but 
the morning is superb. Antelopes stare at us, great eagles are 
describing circles in the air, and in the gorge our hunters see some 
bears. These animals swarm about here, and, unfortunately for 
us, they have better legs than their pursuers. Wolves often 
howl of a night, but are never visible by day. We traverse a 
pass, at about 16,500 feet, and encamp at the bottom, at Tandi^ 
on the banks of a river. 

Our stages, it will be seen, are very similar to one another. 
We do not feel them to be severe, for we are now much better 
and stronger, but they average twelve miles each, Avhich means 
a good deal more in a mountainous country than elsewhere. In 
order that our yaks may not lose strength, their loads are changed 
every day, so that the same beast never carries our wild yak 
skins, which are very heavy, nor our cartridge boxes, on two 
successive days. As soon as one is tired, it is unloaded and 
another takes its place out of a reserve stock of ten, which only 
carry their saddles. 

Ai^ril 13. — We begin to mount higher from the moment of 
starting, and for three hours follow the windings of a path 
which winds along the side of the ridges, now to the southeast, 
now to the northeast. To the north are steep heights and bare 



WB GAMP AT TJEMA-LOUNG. 305 

rocks, while to tlie south valleys descend toward a smaller chain^ 
also bare, beyond and overlooking which is a higher chain, white 
with ice glittering from under the snow. The road is difficult, 
and we admire the agility of our yaks, their surefooteduess, and 
the strength of their legs, thanks to which they can take a drop 
of six feet without falling, and that, too, with a load on their 
backs. And our horses are quite as clever. 

A caravan meets us on its way to Lhassa, consisting, of course, 
of "no" (as yaks are here called), for everything here is trans- 
ported by these cattle with horses' tails. They are laden with 
long boxes covered Avith skins, and containing sugar, as we are 
told. At the head marches a lama with a pointed yellow cap, 
and carrying over his shoulder his cup in a leather bag, and 
several sacred images in little frames of hammered copper. He 
walks quickly, and his leanness, his hollow cheeks, and light 
step, remind Rachmed and me of old Puir, a good muUa who 
was our guide on the Pamir. The descent is along a river with 
high banks, and intercepted with ravines. Then the valley con- 
tracts to a mere gorge between the rocks, which we descend on 
ice, and the gorge in turn becomes a valley. We camp at 
Tjema-Loung, which means " mouth of the gorge." Some tents 
are pitched not far oft', and when we pass in front of them, the 
dogs rush out at us, but their masters call them back and drive 
them away with stones, then saluting us. They have come here 
to prostrate themselves before their chief (hemho), whose face is 
pitted with smallpox. He is, however, very energetic, and ac- 
companies us as long as we are on the grounds of his tribe. 
His insignia consist of a collar and bells, which he hangs round 
his horse's neck. AVe repeatedly ask for milk, and the chief 
never fails to demand some at the tents which we pass, though 
he coolly pockets all the small change which we hand to those 
who provide us with it. 

Around our tents gypaetes are fighting over the remains of a 
sheep, which they Avatched us kill. Wishing to see for ourselves, 
the skill of the Thibetans with the sling, we asked a man to try 
his aim at one about seventy-five yards off. Picking out an oval 



306 ACROSS THIBET. 

stone, a young man, who passes for tlie best slinger amongst 
them, places it in the sling, then swings it round once ; the end 
<iracks, and the stone falls within nine inches of the bird, which 
flies off at once. We examine this redoubtable arm, which is 
about seven feet in length and very simple, consisting of strands 
of wool plaited loosely together, so as to leave it supple. In the 
middle is a small pocket to hold the stone. At one end is a 
ring in which the thumb is placed ; the other end, having no ring, 
is pressed between the thumb and the finger, care being taken 
that the stone hangs evenly in the middle. 

To-night our men keep on the alert. Some of them sleep 
at a certain distance from the tents, watching the yaks. From 
time to time those near the tents give forth shrill cries, and the 
distant sentinels reply with a similar cry, which is again given 
back like an echo by the men on the mountains. It is a sort of 
greeting to each other, as well as a defiance to the enemy, for we 
are told that caravans are often robbed hereabouts. 

April 14. — We set out early for So, which is on the other side 
of some difficult passes. After crossing the river and then one 
of its affluents, we mounted to the top of the first pass, which is 
about 13,000 feet high. Then, by a path which is stony, diffi- 
cult, and such that a horse cannot always get up with his rider, 
in four hours we reached the la-La, at an altitude of about 16,- 
500 feet. These excellent people here rightly thought that we 
should be glad of a draught of milk, which is as welcome as 
manna in this stony desert, where our only drink is snow that 
has been sheltered from the sun at the bottom of the crevasses. 

After satisfying our hunger and thirst, we continue our jour- 
ney by a path along a ridge as far as the obo that marks the 
spot where the desert commences. A perfect panorama here 
stretches out before our eyes. The horizon is clear at the four 
cardinal points, and a regular ocean of mountains is visible ; quite 
as many to the north as to the south, only the summits are whiter 
southward. This is undoubtedly a superb mountain scene, 
though these " grand views " are, after all, very much alike, and 
a little stretch of plain would be most acceptable. 



A SUPERB MOUNTAIN SCENE. 



307 



After such a climb, it is ODly right that we should have a 
scramble down. At one time we go faster than we care for on a 
stony path with innumerable twists, at another we slide along 




A LOADED YAK. 



rocks on the ice left by a torrent, falling and then getting up 
again. We do not lose a single one of our loaded yaks, but, 
among those which are not laden, three fall over a precipice, and 
are killed at once. We then cross, recross, and again cross the 



308 ACROSS THIBET. 

river, to find ourselves on sucli level ground that our liorses, of 
their own accord, break into a trot. To our left, at the lower end 
of the plateau, is a river flowing from the north to the south, into 
which the one we have just crossed empties itself. But what 
is it that we see in the valley ? Cultivated fields ! Plowed land ! 
Yes, and farther away to the north, at the junction of the rivers, 
a sort of pyramid, looking like a sugar-loaf on a cubic base of 
masonry. Insensibly the ground rises, and soon, straight in front 
of us, upon an isolated cone which the river skirts to the east, 
rise high gray walls, built on the very edge of the cliffs and 
forming a most imposing mass. Above these walls extends a 
rectangle, having at one end a square tower and at the other a 
cloistered gallery. From the flat roof rise long poles looking like 
masts, from the ends of which float colored flags and pennants. 

The chief who is our guide tells us that this is So Goumba, 
the monastery of So. As he pronounced these words, the poor 
savage's face expressed his pride, and he repeated " So Goumba ! 
So Goumba ! " as though he would give us to understand that it 
is not every day that one has the luck to see so fine an edifice. 
As for us, although we did not feel his admiration for this speci- 
men of human work, yet the sight of a habitation was a real 
satisfaction to us. For five months we had not seen so extensive, 
so monumental a building ; indeed, I might say for six, for the 
huts and cottages at Tcharkalik scarcely count. 

Our curiosity was now aroused, for we had heard before from 
our men that there are many houses at So, and we were there- 
fore anxious to arrive there. But as we proceeded we saw noth- 
ing beyond what I have described. At last I asked, " Where is 
So?" 

" There it is," answered the Thibetan, pointing with his finger 
to what we were unwilling to take for a town. We congratu- 
lated him on the beauty of his capital, and one man, taking our 
remarks quite seriously, expressed his acquiescence. On reaching 
the Goumba, we discovered that it looks like a fortress only on 
the north and west sides, and that the winds are the enemy 
ao;ainst which these solid walls have been reared as a defense. 



THE MONASTERY OF SO. 309 

The soutli front presents to view row upon row of small, lime- 
stone houses, exposed to the sun's rays, which they admit by 
doors, windows, and countless galleries. This side is as open as 
the others are shut in. All the dwellings, clinging to the sides 
of the slopes and the irregularities in the rock, are so completely 
one above the other, that the roofs of one row serve as terrace 
or courtyard to those in the row above. The one wdde opening 
is the gate, flanked by pillars in the Persian style, and by this 
enter and leave the bearers of sacks, fagots, and other neces- 
saries destined for the use of the monastery. 

The good lamas were to be seen with bare heads and shorn, 
draped, like Koman senators, in dark, coarse woolen robes ; some 
walking up and down the terraces, others sitting cross-legged or 
stretched on rugs, with their legs tucked under them, and 
watching us as they basked in the sunshine. 

Wending our way to the palace we were to occupy, we came 
to a gate with folding doors, to which are affixed two manuscript 
notices in Thibetan, which, with the aid of the imagination, 
enabled us to fancy that they were lodging us in the townhall of 
the district. Through a porch ^ve entered a square court, in the 
northwest corner of which some small chambers are built ao;ainst 
the walls, with a gallery, constructed of wooden pillars, in front 
of them. The other tw^o sides of the court contain only a gran- 
ary, and a place where the horses are tethered. 

This house is, it seems, reserved for the reception of great 
men on their way to or from Lhassa, and belongs to the Tale 
Lama, that is, the oligarchy which rules Thibet. A pole — 
dressed at the top with stuffs of every color, and especially yel- 
low — rising from the courtyard, marks the fact that it is under 
the government flag. A simple glance at the interior of these 
so-called " rooms " sufficed to make us decide to keep to our 
tents, so full were they of filth and vermin. 

While they were erecting our tent, after leveling the ground 
a little, we made for a heap of split wood against the wall. 
Wood ! imagine our happiness as we feel it, and sniif the deli- 
cious odor of the still green juniper, which penetrates even to our 



310 ACROSS THIBET. 

hearts, Frenclimen as we are, who love the forests so keenly, and 
whose fathers used to cry, " To the mistletoe ! " on New Year's 
Da}^ Then we were lost in ecstasy before their walls, built, as 
is the fashion out here, with rough stones and soil, and sanctified 
by the insertion of prayers and carved images of Buddha. Our 
attention was next attracted by the roof, with its astonishing, 
unheard-of chimney-top, consisting of a huge earthenware pot 
that had lost its bottom, probably by being knocked against an 
iron one ; by garlands of prayers, attached to staples and deco- 
rating our house ; by the stairs, made of earth and turf, lead- 
ing up to the roof ; and by the fireside, a little square altar, on 
which were odoriferous branches in honor of the divinity. Fi- 
nally, to complete the house, was a concierge, living in a little 
lodge, with a bitch and her two puppies. He was an ugly-look- 
ing individual, greasy, tall, and lean, with a pointed and dirty 
face black with filth, squint-eyed, forehead narrow and high ; he 
had the short hair of a lama, and seemed to be a sort of lay- 
brother. We were scarcely settled when we received a visit 
from the civil and the religious chief, who were both very polite 
to us, bringing us rice, milk, two sheep, and chopped straw for 
our horses. They made a note of what we wanted, and gave us 
their word that we should be able to start in two days without 
fail, in accordance with our wishes. We made them some pres- 
ents in turn. In the evening they cooked us some excellent 
slices of mutton, thanks to a good wood fire, and we had good 
milk, well-made bread, and well-cooked rice. We could sit near 
the fire without being poisoned by the smell of the dried dung 
which they burn in the desert ; and, in truth, we fancied our- 
selves in another world. We were now at a height of less than 
10,000 feet, and the air seemed so heavy and so stifling that we 
had to open the door of our tent. At nightfall the lamas, posted 
on the terrace of the monastery, gave us a serenade with their 
long trumpets, the dogs supplementing this discordant music 
with their barking ; but the awful noise gradually diminished, 
and so we fell asleep. 

April 15. — When we awoke this morning we complained of 






IT" 



^^^^'' 




THE MONASTERY AT SO. 



NATIVE MONEY. 313 

the lieat. The minimum during the night was only 21° Fahr., 
so that winter is over for us, and not too soon. Having spent 
the day mending various articles, we distributed presents amongst 
the senior chiefs and drivers who have accompanied us, as they 
wished to start on their way back before sunset, so that they 
might spend the night at the foot of Ta-La, and commence its 
difficult ascent to-morrow. 

We paid them generously in icmiihas, though they prefer 
Indian rupees to this species of money in bulk ; because the 
Chinese merchants constantly cheat them by having two differ- 
ent scales which always tell in their own favor, and also by pre- 
paring a very bad alloy ; not unnaturally, therefore, the savages 
prefer actual coins, the - weight and value of which they under- 
stand. The only Thibetan coin that we have seen used is one 
about as thick as a sixpence and as large as a halfpenny, Aveigh- 
ing the sixth of an ounce. It ought always to be of silver, but 
sometimes, to the disgrace of the authorities of the " mint," it is 
of a bad alloy, so that the savages do not readily accept it. On 
one side it is stamped with inscriptions on eight medallions, form- 
ing a circle round a rose in the center ; and on the other, with 
curious ornamentations, among which we fancy we can recognize 
the crescent touching the sun, and the trident. 

This distribution of money and presents gave rise to a little 
incident, and revealed to us the presence of a Chinaman at So, an 
old man who makes opium and gains a livelihood as a usurer and 
money changer. He is a native of Kensi, and was obliged, long 
ago, to flee his country for reasons not of his own making. We 
availed ourselves of his knowledge of Thibetan to explain to 
the men whom we had been rewarding the amount of the money 
w^hich we had given them, for, with the exception of the oldest 
amongst them, they had no idea of the meaning of scales and 
weights. And the chiefs who accompanied us having offered 
to exchange these ingots for " cash," had given them only three 
or four apiece of these Thibetan coins, realizing thus a profit of 
one hundred and fifty per cent. When the opium smoker ex- 
plained our generosity to them, they were very much put out at 



314 ACROSS THIBET. 

the rapacity of tlieir chiefs, though the majority of them dared 
neither protest uor ask for their ingots l^ack. Two, however, 
did not conceal their displeasure, and ^ve intervened and made 
the chiefs hand back to the poor fellows what was meant for 
them, whereupon they manifested their joy by jumping about in 
a most comical fashion. Then, bowing down and taking our 
hands, they placed them on their heads, and finally withdrew 
backward, raising their thumbs and hanging out their tongues. 
Their yaks were quickly assembled and loaded with their slender 
baggage, and they started oft' singing. 

The news of our arrival having got abroad, with the addition, 
no doubt, that we were open-handed, our house was positively 
assailed by a crowd of beggars of both sexes. We offered them 
a sheep, which we handed to the captain of this horde, bidding 
him distribute it equally. This largess rid us of them and their 
vermin, but not of the clogs. The number of these latter is per- 
fectly astounding ; in fact, we could not say whether beggars or 
doa's were the moi-e numerous at So. 

From our house we can see the men plowing in the valley 
below. They scratch the mountain side with a plow drawn by 
two yaks, which are led by a man who holds the cords attached 
to the rings in their noses. From behind the plowman Avhips 
them up, though they do not go any quicker, but merely 
straighten their tufted tails and gro^d. The furrows are very 
small, and as far as possible perpendicular to the lie of the slope, 
with the vicAV, no doubt, of stopping the waters which run down 
from the plateau. When the field has been plowed they come 
our way, and so give us the opportunity of examining their team. 
It consists of a pole fixed to a yoke which the beasts keep up. 
The tail is simply a roughly hewn thick bough, which is bent 
a little to form a handle ; the share is of wood with two side 
pieces also of wood, l:>ound by means of leathern thongs and 
with an iron tip in front. The men seem to till the land with 
great care, breaking the clods with a wooden mallet, and picking- 
up the stones, which they place in a heap at the corner of the 
field. We see several others plowing in the same way; the 



FLOWING AT SO. 



315 



driver is sometimes a woman, but it is always a man, witli body 
bared, who holds the tail and steers it lightly through the soil. 

Turning to the monastery we see much more movement within 
it than there was yesterday. The dilapidations in the roof and 
walls are being repaired. Women carry the mortar and stones 




A HOUSE AT SO. 



in baskets, while the men arrange the materials, and we see 
several of them treading the soil down on the roof and singing 
as they work. The lamas, richly clad, stand out boldly against 
the sky on the highest point of the roof, as they interest them- 
selves in the work, and in various striking attitudes watch the 
men. These hurried repairs suggest that the rainy season is at 
hand. 

April 16. — We quit So after haviug said our adieus to our 



316 ACBOSS THIBET. 

companions, tlie minor chiefs who are returning home. One of 
them is going to Lhassa, and we commission him to carry our 
kind remembrances to our old friends who live in the holy city. 

Crossing the Satchou, which here is from 180 to 660 feet 
broad, we have to take a slight bath. We then ascend a valley 
from which one of the tributaries of the Satchou comes down. 
Following the banks of the river along an easy road, with the 
sun shining brightly, our eyes are gladdened by the juniper and 
brushwood which cover the slopes on the higher ground ; herds 
are browsing the green grass ; yaks, sheep, and horses vie with 
each other in perching themselves on the most inaccessible spots. 
Every now and again black tents are to be seen in a gorge, and 
near them blocks of ice, reminding us that the winter is only 
now over. In fact we are perspiring, and have already forgot- 
ten the awful cold of the table-lands. At the end of the valley 
tents are pitched ready for us, with piles of fagots, and scarcely 
have we sat down when an old fellow presents himself with 
pendent tongue and a pot of creamy milk. Here we shoot some 
partridges that are quite new to us, and have been for a long 
time puzzling us by a cry which they utter without showing them- 
selves. While searching for them I catch sight of three natives 
at our feet behind a rock, amusing themselves with the contem- 
plation of their own features in a pocket mirror, which they are 
evidently using for the first time. They stop here for some 
time, chatting and laughing boisterously at their own grimaces. 
The mildness of the temperature seems to us extraordinary; we 
no longer require our cloaks except after sunset. We again 
notice a curious phenomenon, though it is less striking here than 
on the table-lands; our woolen cloaks and clothes, whenever 
they are touched in the dark, become luminous with electricity, 
and give forth a slight crackle. 

A2:>ril 17. — Our road becomes more and more picturesque. 
We traverse regular woods of juniper trees, above which appear 
the green hills. Herds become more numerous, and trees I'arer. 
The method of building is no longer the same, for other materi- 
als are here available. We see huts, made of branches, leaning 



A BEARDED THIBETAN. 317 

against the mountains, and tlie tents are sniTounded with hedges 
as among the Kirghiz on the mountains of Central Asia, while 
the animals are shut in of a night, because of the cultivated lands. 
Fires are made of wood, with which dung is mixed. The men 
are also laying by supplies of grass for the winter, and every- 
where we see erections that look like gallows or gibbets, 
formed of upright poles, on the tops of which are fixed others 
crosswise ; on these they dry the grass, which is, at the same 
time, out of reach of the cattle. In proportion as the land is 
more generous, the inhabitants take more care of themselves, and 
have stronger frames. For the first time we notice amongst these 
shepherds the use of a covering other than the cloak, for some 
are wearing cotton shirts with broad sleeves, and others sleeve- 
less waistcoats. Almost all of them smoke pipes of tin or beaten 
iron, with tubes so long that by slightly stooping the smoker can 
light his very bad tobacco at the fire. On the road they carry, 
attached to their tobacco pouch, a little wooden vessel in which 
they empty the residue of each pipe, and quickly filling the small 
bowl, light the fresh tobacco from the burning remains. 

At Souti, in the valley of Soudjou, we were as astonished to see 
a man with a little black beard as we are at home to see a woman 
with hair on her chin. This individual, adorned also with a 
rudimentary mustache, is in other respects very like his fellows. 
He seems to be in the service of the local chief, who attracts 
our attention at once, for he seems an exact picture of what a 
barbarian chief should be. No longer young, foi' his hair is turn- 
ing, he is still active and vigorous ; his style of salutation is dig- 
nified, though simple ; he has regular features, thin lips, small 
eyes with a proud look in them, and in all his gestures there is 
a certain amount of distinction combined with simplicity and 
ease. Whether he is walking, lighting his pipe — ^which is as 
long as his arm — or I'esting, he looks well. Ask Jiim a question 
and he replies seriously ; he issues brief orders that are quickly 
executed. He commands in a natural way, like a man born to 
be obeyed. 

Since leaving So, we have often noticed that the soil on the 



318 ACROSS THIBET. 

banks of the river has been distnrbed. To-day the mystery is 
solved, for on the fire near the tent we see a pot filled with what 
seems to be, from its taste, a species of turnip. It is called 
niouma, and is found on the ground, just like truffles, growing 
generally Avith a long root, in which case it has the flat top of a 
mushroom, but sometimes with a short root. 

From Souti we reach Ritchimbo by a pass, and are scarcely in 
the valley before we meet with an easterly w^ind, for the first 
thne these many weeks, and a storm of sleet. The juniper trees 
have almost entirely disappeared, and here we are on a steppe 
asfain. 

We have to change our yaks to-day, and for the last time we 
pay our workmen and drivers directly for their services. They 
always hand their money at once to their chiefs, who appropriate 
two-thirds of it, under the idea, doubtless, that we are "ruining 
trade." For the future, we shall simply hand a lump sum to the 
chief of the band, taking care to be less generous. We have 
often asked each other why savages submit so readily to the ex- 
tortions of their chiefs. An Oriental ga^^e us an explanation of 
this which may be worth mentioning. " AVe greatly prefer dis- 
honest chiefs," said he, " because they punish us less severely 
when we deserve punishment, and we can obtain from them 
favors which it would be useless to ask from honest chiefs, who 
refuse bribes. The latter only do and permit what is just and 
right," 

At Ritchimbo we see, for the first time, a goiter, on the neck 
of a small chief. 

April 20. — The whole mountain is covered to a consider- 
able depth with fine snow, which began to fall last night. 
Climbing a pass presenting great difficulties, called Kela, which 
is also the name of the neio-hborino; chain, and reachins;, with 
great trouble and in intolerable heat, a height of 15,200 feet, the 
descent began. The snow was positively dazzling in the sun- 
shine, and our faces were scorched, for we could not protect our- 
selves against the reflection of the sun's rays, after the manner 
of the natives, who let their long hair hang down over their 



ON CHINESE TERRITORY. 319 

faces. Tliey however suffer from headache, to relieve which 
they put haudfuls of snow ou their heads. It took us three 
hours to cross the pass, and we then followed the course of a 
river, sometimes on the ice, and sometimes on the bank. 
On the adjacent lands were houses with flat tops, and sur- 
rounded with hedges ; dogs greeted us with their barking, 
and we fancy we could even hear cats mewing, though it might, 
perhaps, have been little lambs crying. Juniper trees were again 
very scarce, but the hillsides bristled with brushwood ; and 
«very time that we raised our eyes we saw yaks where one would 
think only birds could perch. Then, leaving the valley, we 
climbed a ridge which forced us to go out of our way, with the 
result that we stumbled along toward a chief's house near Bata- 
Soumdo. Tlais place, we are told, is on Chinese territory ; it is 
near a training school for lamas situated on the west side of the 
valley, which looks from here like a cul-de-sac,, stretching from 
north to south, and shut in on the north by a superb mass of brist- 
ling broken rocks, with their slim and snowy points rising one 
above the other. The whole looks like an immense bundle of 
tapering Gothic spires ; on this side are more houses built on and 
round the slopes, while above and below cattle are grazing. 

Our approach causes considerable curiosity, and several women 
come out of the house, freshly besmeared. One of them is young, 
and as she does not wear a mask of dirt, displays fine features 
and a prepossessing face set in a natural head of hair, curly 
beyond all description. This head of hair is evidently " in- 
habited," but from the calm fashion in which she disposes of 
those of her little six-footed friends that she can catch, it does not 
seem to enter her mind that she is at all singular in this respect. 
The chief, who is a fearful old rascal and very ugly, makes a 
difficulty about supplying us with yaks and horses, though we 
offer to pay him for their use. He pretends that he has none at 
his disposal, though we can see plenty of them on the mountain. 
We call his attention to this manifest contradiction, and, being 
thus cornered, he avows that he can do nothing on his own 
authority. " I must," he says, '' have an order from the Chinese 



320 ACROSS THIBET. 

chief at Lliassa or Tsamclo. Have you one ? " Thereupon our 
lama and the representative of the chief at So take him in hand, 
and the affair is soon settled. We express our astonishment at 
this difficulty, and our lama explains to us that the people in this 
valley are brigands, thieves, blackguards, in short, Chinese sub- 
jects, and that they are dependent on the Chinese mandarins at 
Tsamdo. 

Our afternoon is devoted to a reception of crowds of idlers 
whom we allow to inspect our various utensils. Some enameled 
dishes call forth expressions of great admiration, while they raise 
their thumbs at the sight of our firearms, and greet our big-tailed 
ram with shouts of joy. 

By dint of small presents, we induce some of the yak drivers 
from Kitchimbo to transport our baggage during the four days 
that we have still to pass on the territory of Tsamdo. The most 
ardent advocate in our behalf is a species of madman, about fifty 
years old, whom his comrades obey in spite of his evident lack of 
intelligence. We secured his allegiance by giving him a pocket 
mirror, which he had asked for scores of times during the stage. 
Although so simple-minded, he has wonderful legs, and is never 
tired of using them. On the slightest excuse he would come up 
to us, and hold the horse's bridle, under the pretense of being of 
some assistance ; and, hanging out his tongue, would pretend to 
look at himself in the hollow of his hand, as if he were holding 
a looking-glass in it, and with the gestures and mimicry of a 
Neapolitan would beg us to give him one. Since our arrival at 
Bata-Soumdo he has never ceased hanging about Rachmed, 
whom he knows to be the cashier, the dispenser of our goods, and 
when Dedeken hands him the longed-for mirror, he receives it 
with an amusing explosion of joy that we have never seen 
equaled. Raising his arms, he looks at himself, protrudes his 
tongue, and gives a bound in the air, kicking up his heels against 
his seat. He then runs to the women, and allows them to con- 
template their own features in his glass, but snaps at them when 
they try to take it into their own hands. Some men then 
approach, whereupon he runs away, with abound like a goat that 



WE ADOPT PERSUASIVE MEASURES. 



321 



Las just been let loose, pursued by some of liis companions, who 
cannot catcli him up. He then stops, and allows them just a. 
glance at themselves in his glass, but that is all, and at last he 
conceals this precious object, and each time that anyone asks 
him for the loan of it, replies, in a serious tone, that they have 
had enough amusement for the present. This strange man marks 
his friendship for a certain little girl by handing her a little bit 
of glass off a box of cigarettes ; and she immediately holds this 
glass in the palms of her hands, and contemplates her reflected 
image, all the women following her example. 

April 21. — We start, though rather late, to-day, for we have 
been obliged to adopt persuasive measures to induce a very 
recalcitrant chief to furnish us with his quota of men and beasts. 
Our lama and Rachmed at last bring him to understand that we 
distribute with no sparing hands blows as well as more agree- 
able things. 




WOMEN AT BATA-SOUMDO. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



NATIVE CUSTOMS AND CHARACTER. 

A Thibetan Vitellius — " Tchang"— Commercial Chinamen— Native Women— Polyandry 
and Polygamy — Beggars — Contentment — The Chief of the District at Home — A 
Theological Question — Departure from Sere Soundo — Mendicant Lamas and their 
Music — News from Lhassa — The Honeymoon in Thibet— Novel Method of Crossing 
a Stream— Tumblers— Chief in his Cups — A Scene of Home Life— Force Majeure— 
Fickleness of the Natives : The Probable Cause — At Kari Meta— Primitive Hus- 
bandry — A Lamaess — Praying Windmills— Tchoungo— The Dala and Djala Passes 
— A Splendid Prospect— A Pagoda— Houmda-Lagoun : A Manufacturing Town. 

April 21. — We make a short stage 
as far as Poiouudo, half-way through 
a pass. The slopes are covered with 
brushwood, and in a thicket of 
rhododendrons we can see musk- 
deer bounding about. Some natives 
are very anxious to sell us some 
musk-bags from these animals, and, 
to prove their generosity, offer us, at 
the same time, some of their long 
teeth. But these cunning salesmen, 
who ask at least twenty-hve rupees 
apiece for them, are regular cheats, 
for they have emptied most of the 
bags and crammed them with paper, 
April 22, — We traverse several 
short passes marked by obos from which protrude branches tied 
up in bundles. We mount to a height of 16,500 feet, then re- 
descend, to mount again to a height of 15,500 feet; then there 
come passes of only 13,900 feet and 14,900 feet. Now and again 
we see houses and tents on the plateau ; around us is the fresh 
grass, and our temperature at night varies from T° to 25° below- 
zero. 

322 




WOMAN AND CHILD OF SEKE 
SOUNDO. 



'A GRAND CHIEF. 



323 



April 23. — A pretty steep pass takes us up 15,000 feet, and 
tlien conies a descent into a narrow gorge rendered very pictu- 
resque by rocks, gradually broadening into a valley, whilst on 
the terraces above its perpendicular banks are numerous flat- 




HOUSE AT SERE SOUNDO. 



roofed habitations with gray walls varying in height. A large 
square building, which frowns down upon them in the distance, 
gives these houses the appearance of forts surmounted by a 
tower, such as are found in Tuscany. 

Just as we were about to leave the valley, our old friend, the 
idiot with the looking-glass, rushed forward, and explained to us, 
with great volubility and gesticulations, that we were to halt on 
the plateau: "A grand chief, a very good fellow, is expecting 
you. I have told him that you are honest, kind men, and that 
you must make each other's acquaintance, and drink a glass of 
Hchang' together; you will find it excellent." We had no 
sooner reached the plateau, which borders a river of consider- 
able width, than we saw a number of natives who seemed to be 
expecting us. Several of them came forward, and, politely 
taking our horses by their bridles, conducted us to this great 



324 ACROSS THIBET. 

chief, wlio was one of tlie stoutest, if not the very stoutest of 
Thibetans tliat we had ever seen ; quite a Vitellius. In spite, 
or perhaps because of his rotundity, he was very amiable, shak- 
ing our hands most cordially, and begging us to honor him by 
taking a seat on his rug. On each side of him was a lama, one 
with a head like an actor, the other with that of a faun. He 
himself carried on his bull-neck a splendid, well-shaped head — 
the head of a savage monarch, with hair hanging down his 
back. This specimen of a thick-set Goliath insisted on our tast- 
ing the contents of three iron bottles, cased in tin, of Chinese 
make, judged by their shape, on the top of which were lumps of 
butter, out of compliment to us. From its flavor, this '' tchang " 
must be made from fermented barley, and at first we did not 
think much of it, but after a while we rather took to it, and 
gave it the high-sounding name of hydromel. It seems very 
mild, but if you drink too much of it you run the risk of be- 
coming " dead drunk." Our host requested permission to look 
at our firearms and glasses, and his stupefaction was extreme 
when he saw the dust fly, a thousand paces off, where a ball had 
struck an eboulis on a rock, his companions sharing his astonish- 
ment, and expressing their admiration in most emphatic terms. 
When we rose to leave, the fat chief and all his followers in- 
sisted on conducting us, so they brought him a splendid mule 
which, in spite of his weight, he mounted unaided ; and so we 
started. Having crossed the river, our crowd of followers on 
foot tucking up their clothes and displaying the sturdy though 
somewhat long legs of mountaineers, we climbed a narrow path 
on the edge of the chasm, pitching our tent near a clump of 
houses built on the mountain side. A crowd of idlers of both 
sexes soon surrounded us ; the women being very ugly, while a 
few of the young men had rather nice faces. 

To our yak drivers and all these spectators who are shouting 
and moving about, two Chinamen with their solemn mien pre- 
sent a great contrast. One of them wears a pair of spectacles 
with such large-rimmed glasses that they cover part of his fore- 
head too. He is smoking a cigar out of a long mouthpiece, with 



COMMERCIAL CHINAMEN. 325 

a very dignified air, one hand in his girdle. The other, whose 
nose is not quite so insolently retrousse, has a less dignified atti- 
tude and a humorous smile. They enter at once into conversa- 
tion with our man Akkan, who turns out to come from Kensi, 
their native pi'ovince. Chinamen who belong to the same dis- 
trict always support each other, and when far from home meet 
compatriots with the greatest pleasure, their provincialism doing 
-duty for patriotism. 

These two are here to trade, and are the scouts of an army of 
invading merchants. They buy musk chiefly, or rather take it 
in exchange for tea, which they bring from China, a tea of a 
very inferior quality, furnishing, indeed, an execrable drink, yet 
the natives here prefer it to anything else, even to Indian rupees. 
According to these Chinamen, musk is very dear, a good bag 
costing at least twenty rupees. The natives also exchange it for 
tobacco, but only on rare occasions, as the tobacco leaves, which 
they roll into cigars for themselves, come from Setchoun, and are 
very ex23ensive. 

According to what the elder and graver of the Chinamen tells 
us, they are both representatives of a large house, whose head- 
quarters are at Shanghai. " My companion," he says, " was a 
soldier, and has traveled in the direction of Yunnan. I am going 
away from here in three hours, but he will remain, as he has 
come to take my place. My residence here has lasted eighteen 
months, and it will procure me, on my retui'u home, the post of 
manager of one of the shops belonging to our house. Oh ! you 
might be kind enough to let me have one of your horses. I 
noticed that one of them is lame ; let me have it, and I Avill soon 
set it to rights. I should be very glad of it, for I want it badly." 

" What do you want it for ? " 

" Because, you see, I have a little daughter that I wish to take 
away with me, and I could put her on your horse." 

" Are you not taking the child's mother, too ? " 

'' No, for I am not married." 

Thereupon, his companion, the old soldier, also unbosoms him- 
self to us. "I only reached here three moons ago, and it already 



326 ACROSS THIBET. 

seems a very loug time to me. I doD^t like being here at all, 
and I shall never be able to take to these savages or learn their 
language." He calls our attention to their dirt, though that does 
not prevent him fi-om leering at some fearful-looking women. 
He is evidently a " lady's man," but, as he himself remarks, they 
are not by any means coy ; they are indeed devoid of all sense 
of modest}^ or even of decency. 

The poorer women adorn themselves with copper bracelets 
and earrings, the rich have silver ones. Many of them wear 
glass necklaces which they buy from the Chinamen, and stones 
in which agates predominate. They also insert these stones 
and glass trinkets in their abundant locks, which fall like a fan 
down their backs. Most of the women whom we see here have 
small dark eyes, black hair, broad faces, and prominent cheek 
bones ; they are stout and short, but very strong and muscular. 
We are in a laud where the system not only of " wives many," 
but also of " husbands many " prevails. This is how the latter 
mode works. A couple have a marriageable daughter; a man is 
anxious to enter into this family, live under the same roof, and 
become the husband of the girl. He, therefore, visits her par- 
ents, states the terms he is prepared to offer, and when this 
dowry, or, rather, this charge for admission is settled, becomes 
her husband and a member of the family. Other young men, 
desirous of sharing his happiness, present themselves, knock at 
the door, and, if terms can be arranged, take their place, too, 
round the family hearth, thus becoming members of the house- 
hold and co-husbands. Sometimes, but very rarely, it happens 
that one of the husbands, through love or jealousy, or from some 
other motive, wishes to become the sole proprietor, the sole lord 
of the wife. In this case terms are arranged by which he be- 
comes her one and only master, and his colleagues obligingly re- 
tire, when he has repaid them the sum they bi'ought on entering 
the association, plus an idemnity, the amount of which is only 
settled after a long ^^a^angle. If there are any children, they re- 
main mth the Avife. 

It must not be imagined that this system prevails by law or 



POLYANDRY AND POLYGAMY. 



327 



by auy religious custom having tlie force of a law. In Thibet 
polyandry is not obligatoiy, as monogamy is with us. If his 
means admit of such a luxury, a man takes a wife to himself 
and does not share her with others. And if a powerful, rich 




TYPES OP NATIVES AT SERE SOUXDO. 



chief, like the great man who welcomed us this morning, is not 
content mth one mfe, he takes as many as he likes. Our 
Goliath, for instance, has three, so that this country furnishes a 
proof, as do other countries, that the marital relation is deter- 
mined by economic considerations. 



328 ACROSS THIBET. 

Let me give another fact in support of this view, A married 
man gives up his wife, and restores her to her family, when he 
finds " double harness " too galling. He can, if he chooses, 
enter a lamas' house, a favor, however, that is granted him only 
in return for a certain sum paid down into the prior's hands. 
On becoming a lama, he is assured against want to the end of 
his days, and in exchange for his capital handed over to the 
house, a sort of life annuity is granted him. His position, ho\v- 
ever, in the community is in proportion to his fortune; and 
should he be comparatively poor, he must not expect the happy 
and easy lot of the rich lamas, but must work. Even with this 
obligation to work, howevei', he is relatively happy, since his 
future is secure ; he will never be mthout a crust to munch, and 
many of the natives are quite content when this much is assured 
them. 

Here, however, as elsewhere, some women are left unmarried. 
When they cannot find a purchaser their only resource is to take 
to begging ; they soon meet with others in the same plight with 
whom they join their fortunes, and they then wander about 
among tents and villages with wallets on their backs, and long 
sticks in their hands, to repel the dogs. Sometimes they join a 
body of male beggars, when each sex begs for itself by day, and 
they only meet at night. 

If it be asked, " When a woman has, say, four husbands, how 
can they possibly agree amongst themselves ? " I can only assert 
that they do agree. They all indeed join hands against the 
wife. They vie with one another in getting as much work out 
of her as they possibly can. She it is who leads the yaks yoked 
to the plow, or, bare to the waist, brandishes a mallet as she 
breaks the clods ; before sunset she hastens to the fields to col- 
lect fuel for the evening meal, and sometimes has to go, with her 
basket on her back, to the summit of the mountains, along the 
slopes, to gather it. If the stones in the walls that protect the 
cultivated lands fall down, she has to put them back again ; it is 
she, too, who removes the stones raised b}^ the plow in tracing the 
furrows ; she spins and sews, and attends to the needs of young 



CONTENTMENT. 329 

^nd old ; goes to the river for water, and, bending double on tlie 
steep path, returns laboriously with her Jars full ; while finally, 
when beasts of burden run short, or these " gentlemen " think a 
load too heavy for their little horses, they quietly put it on a 
woman's back. The women belonging to the nomads, however, 
are not so overdone with work as the wives of the husbandmen. 

As for the men, they plow, sow, shoot, drive the yaks, and, 
with the help of their women, load them, but their chief occupa- 
tion consists in smoking their pipes while waiting for the harvest. 

All, however, women as well as men, seem quite contented 
with their lot, and gayety reigns supreme. Every time they see 
us performing our ablutions they gape with astonishment. Our 
matches, too, fill them with astonishment when they see them 
light from friction. Several of them rush to pick up those we 
Tiave thrown away after using them, or because they would not 
strike. Then they rub them, just as they have seen us doing, 
on a stone or on their sleeves, and are crestfallen because they 
•cannot produce the desired effect. 

In the evening I took a walk in the direction of a large obo 
piled up at the bottom of a terrace where the chief of the dis- 
i^rict has built his palace. I found him before his door, sitting 
<3ross-legged on a mat in a very dignified position, and turning 
his prayer mill. The suspicion of a beard and of a small black 
mustache, and his hair, which only falls down to his shoulders, 
make him the type of a Gallic chief as represented to us in pic- 
tures. Chained up in his yard are two splendid black dogs with 
red paws, enormous beasts with heads like bears, that bark 
furiously whenever anyone approaches. 

The dwelling-house comprises the floor above the stables, and is 
reached by stairs or rather by a trunk of a tree hewn into the shape 
of stairs. Between the first floor and the stables is a platform, 
on the walls of which hang fox, wolf, and panther skins. Women 
are attending to their household duties, while their lord and 
master is enjoying the fresh air. While I am examining some 
engraved stones, I am joined by a young lama, whose hooked 
nose, energetic features, and quick eye, had already struck 



330 



ACROSS THIBET. 



me. He presents me with several stones, saying, " I engraved 
the prayers on them." I compliment him on his talent, and 
express a wish to carry away with me some specimens of his, 




MEXDICAKT LAMAS. 



skill, whereupon he shows himself disposed to fall in with my 
request, and taking my note-book, which I hand him, copies intoi 
it some of the inscriptions. 

We were soon surrounded by idlers, and amongst them were 
some lamas wdio read aloud over his shoulder the formulas which 
he was copying for me. Then one of them, to whom I remarked 



A THEOLOGICAL QUESTION. 331 

that tlie words were very beautiful, put a question to me, folding 
his hands in the attitude of prayer, pretending to turn his 
prayer mill to the right, and pointing to the south and to the 
lamas' house on the other side of the valley opposite to us. He 
next pretended to turn a prayer mill to the left, and pointed to 
the west, namely, the direction of Lhassa, He was doubtless 
puttiug to me a question in theology, or perhaps he wanted to 
know my opinion on Buddhism. Being an old hand at this kind 
of thing, I pointed to the west and turned my imaginary mill 
from right to left, and, lifting my thumb, expressed my approba- 
tion of this latter kind of exercise. It so happened that I was 
of the scribe's opinion, for he congratulated me, repeating with 
manifest satisfaction, "Well, very well." 

After that he made some jocose remark to my questioner, who 
is, doubtless, an innovator or schismatic of some kiud. He has, 
however, a good round head, and a benevolent face, A^hich does 
not look as though it belonged to a revolutionist. AYith a firm 
hand the artist wrote the " Om mane Padme houm," then " Ome 
mate me ie sa le Deu," and then other syllables the meaning of 
which 1 will not undertake to render. It is, however, to be sup- 
posed that they have a meaning, and that they are efficacious, 
since they are everywhere chiseled on stones, chalked on moun- 
tain sides, traced on the shingle of the river, printed on the stuffs, 
or cut on bits of wood and even on the animals' horns when other 
material fails. As a reward for his kindness I handed the scribe 
the pencil he had been using. As he had picked up all the bits 
of old paper that we had thrown away, he drew out of his 
pocket a bit of an old cardboard box, and had a hard tussle with 
the point of the pencil, writing in cursive characters, and draw- 
ing ornaments ; a hand, a bird that looks like an indiscriminate 
specimen of a domestic fowl, and finally my portrait, consisting 
of a very short profile, with what was meant for a nose, an eye 
like that of an Egyptian, and narrow forehead, and a beard such 
as you see on Assyrian bas-reliefs. 

The likeness was not satisfactory, but I, in turn, executed his 
portrait, reproducing his aquiline nose and advancing chin. It 



332 ACBOSS THIBET. 

really was recognizable ; at all events he was so j^leased witli it 
that, when he asked to be allowed to retain this masterpiece, I 
consented, and he took his departure surrounded by his friends, 
who, on comparing the drawing with its original, raised their 
thumbs to compliment me on my talent. 

April 24. — To-day we left Sere Soundo, although we had been 
very comfortable there. Before starting the chief offered us 
several bottles of " tchang," which we emptied, making a merry 
start, accompanied by most of the villagers. 

The valley that we now ascend is very well cultivated, with 
numerous hamlets in it, and large farms where all the members of 
a family are crowded together. The ruins of habitations sur- 
mounted by lofty towers are not rare. We could not find out 
whether these " despohladas " were due to war, depopulation, or 
removals. Built on elevated platforms, bathed in the sunshine, 
and standing out against the blue sky, these towers have a grand 
look about them, and give to the ruins the appearance of fortified 
castles. The buildings correspond in style with those I have 
seen on the Himalayas, in the Tchatral, and at Gahkouch, for 
instance. There are resemblances, also, between the natives of 
these two regions^the same long hair, the same system of one 
wife to many husbands, the same easy carrying of heavy loads, 
and finally, the same lightheartedness. 

After advancing for an hour and a quarter, we halted at a 
small village to change porters. From the moment of our arrival 
the chief from Sere Soundo, who had accompanied us, sat apart 
to show that he does not exercise any authority here, and that 
he will not interfere in his neighbor's concerns. These little 
potentates are, in fact, very jealous of their authority. The 
chief, who is recognizable by his yellow, pointed hat, marches up 
and down, and issues his orders, his men forthwith setting out 
in every direction, shouting, calling, and answering one another 
till the mountain echoes back the noise. They bring up beasts 
of burden of every sort, size, and color, male and female. One 
drags a donkey by its ear, another a yak by a cord or by its 
horn, others chase horses, an old woman hurries on her cow, and 



MENDICANT LAMAS AND THEIR MUSIC. 333 

some young men drive in oxen at a gallop ; all these make up a 
large herd, and they add their lowing, grunting, or neighing to 
the hubbub, which was bad enough before. When it comes to 
starting, and dividing the loads, there is a general scramble for 
the lightest objects, men and women, old men and children, all 
taking part in it, and all arguing. They weigh the chests and 
the bundles, and all want to get out of taking them. One pre- 
tends that his ass is so miserably small; another, that he can- 
not saddle his horse because it is too spirited ; another, that his 
yak has only just come in, tired out from plowing ; and as for 
our wild yak skin that we destine for the museum, they are so 
frightened at its weight that nobody will have anything to do 
with it. Everybody is crying out, everyone issuing orders, down 
to boys of twelve, while, amid all the tumult, some sancti- 
monious old lamas, quite indifferent to it, quietly turn their mills 
or tell their beads. But this does not prevent them from exam- 
ining us and stroking our velveteens, which are a puzzle to them, 
for, as they feel them, they remark to each other, '^ It is not 
leather," and they cannot get over their surprise. The shouting 
and laughing are enough to deafen one. Soon the din is at its 
height, thanks to the arrival of two mendicant lamas singing, the 
one in a marvelously hollow voice, the other in a key first sharp 
and then rough. They accompany their song with a double 
tambourine, which they beat till the little leather tassels flutter 
at the end of the thongs fixed on to their instrument. Besides 
this, they every now and then blow into human thigh bones with 
leather bags on the end, from which they discharge most dis- 
agreeable wheezing noises. Both of them are bareheaded, and 
clad in yellow ; the elder one's face is completely smooth, while 
the other is bald ; his nose is short, his teeth splendid, and he 
possesses just a large enough fringe of beard to make him the 
image of a good-natured gorilla. 

The scene is a picturesque one, and it would probably be 
going on still if the chief, tired of arguing with his subjects, had 
not suggested to them that they should decide by lot which 
should take such and such a load. Men and women accordingly 



334 AGIWSS THIBET. 

hand to an old man one of tlie garters with which they fasten 
u}) above the calf their stuff boots. These form the numbers of 
the lottery, and the old man proceeds to draw them with the 
utmost impartiality. He first places himself at one end of the 
row of packages, and, following it down to the other end, puts 
upon each of them one of the garters, which he takes at haphaz- 
ard out of his left hand, kept behind his back. Two sturdy fel- 
lows haviuo; voluntarily seized the heaviest chests, the crowd 
straightway lays hold of all that is left, and our baggage is soon 
carried off. 

Everyone wishes to join in this pleasure party, poor as well as 
rich, the women more especially ; and the exodus takes place in 
great disorder, whilst those who carry small loads, or none at 
all, run about, jumping round the beasts, laughing, chattering, 
and shouting ; never, in short, did a " removal " take place amidst 
greater merriment. 

In our turn we followed this rabble, after having given a con- 
sultation to one of the mendicant lamas, who had an eye covered 
with a white film. On the way we noticed that our yak skin, 
which at starting had been put on a young horse's back, had been 
shifted to that of a woman, so important is it that the back of 
the noblest conquest that man has ever made should not be made 
sore. In spite of the impossibility of overlooking our porters, 
we find in the evening that nothing is missing. 

Scarcely was our tent pitched, when our Chinaman was 
greeted by a Thibetan with an intelligent face, who could speak 
a few words of Chinese. He represented that he came from 
Lhassa, and that he was there while we were at Dam, for the 
rumor of our arrival had spread in the town. He had three 
other companions, one of them a girl, and they had been travel- 
ing for a year. Setting out from Tatsien Lou, whither they Avere 
now retui'ning, they passed Tsamdo, and then went straight 
to Lhassa to pray and receive the blessing of the Tale 
Lama. 

" And did you receive it ? " 

" Oh, yes ! we were blessed, and are now happy. As soon as 



TEE HONEYMOON IN THIBET. 335 

we have readied home again, my sister is going to many the 
elder of these two young men." 

" And who is the other ? " 

" The brother of my future brother-in-law." 

" Your brother-in-law is very young." 

" Eighteen." 

" And your sister ? " 

" Fifteen." 

" What induced you to undertake this long journey ? " 

" We had long talked about it between us, and then, when we 
liad made our minds up, we set out with a little money. Now, 
however, we have none left, and are begging our way back," 

" Do you expect to reach Tatsien Lou soon ? " 

" AVe hope so, but cannot say when." 

In Europe the honeymoon trip is made after marriage ; in 
Thibet they take it at betrothal. I will not presume to decide 
which of the two plans is the better. 

In front of our encampment, on a plateau to the south, stretch 
the white walls of a lama's house, from which the descent is 
made by an abrupt path cut in the high bank of the river. The 
two banks are not connected by any bridge, and those who would 
cross must do so at a ford, or make use of a cable stretched 
above the Avater from side to side. 

On going to examine this system of aerial gymnastics, we 
were lucky enough to see it work several times. The person 
who crosses encircles his body with short leather thongs 
attached to a strong horn hook, which is fixed over the 
stomach. Then with the ends of these thongs he forms two 
rings which are passed around the thighs, hangs the hook on to 
the rope, with the head in the direction he is going, and holding 
on by the strength of his wi'ist, is soon suspended, face upper- 
most and back parallel to the river, when he soon twists himself 
over to the. other side. Several natives who crossed to have a 
look at us returned in this manner ; each had his straps and his 
hook, while those who felt their strength going excited them- 
selves by shouting, and pressed the cord with their feet besides 



336 ACROSS THIBET. 

pushing themselves along by stretching their legs. Some of 
them disjjlayed great strength in this exercise, and when hang- 
ing in mid-air over the river which was roaring beneath them, 
would give vent to shouts of joy or defiance. 

In the evening three Thibetans come and take a seat round 
our fire, one of them twanging a guitar as an accompaniment to a. 
song which, though monotonous, is not disagreeable. The follow- 
ing evening, when the beasts were being loaded, they re-appeared 
in their smartest costume, having tucked their trousers into their 
boots, and put on a red dress with tassels hanging down from 
their girdles. 

These men are dancers or tumblers. Winding round in a 
circle, they mark time with small cymbals and a drum, which 
they hold like a hand glass, and keep striking with a bent stick, 
with a leather puff at the end. They make a few grimaces, bend 
the body, and then turn clean over with great agility. As a 
climax, one who remained on the scene last added to his disguise 
a horrible-looking mask, ornamented with white shells, performed 
a series of leaps and somersaults, which he makes more dangerous 
by holding close to his eyes the points of very sharp knives. 

A2ynl 25. — We mounted up as far as Tachiline, crossing to the 
left bank of the river by a wooden bridge. The piles are square 
towers, constructed of small beams, and the interiors filled with 
stones. On the top of these piles are put long oak beams, fixed 
with ropes to crossbeams, and having stones on the ends to 
keep them in position, and, perhaps, to maintain the equilibrium. 

Here we had to consult the chiefs of the district about obtain- 
ing yaks for the next stage, which is a long one, beginning with 
a pass, and continuing through a desert, so they begged us to 
start early. The head of the lamas' house helped us, and half 
our band for the morrow will consist of lamas. There are two 
hundred of them here, living in a row of huts so out of repair 
that we can only conclude it is a poor district^ — -and, in fact, the 
natives cultivate but very little ground, and are smaller and 
Avorse off than those who live lower down. In ten hours we 
reached Tchimbo-Tiuzi, a large village with a lama community 




gossi>;g, >iear sere soundo. 



A CHIEF IN HIS CUPS. 339 

numbering a thousand inhabitants. It is perched on an isolated 
shelving road, and bordered on the south by the river, which 
buries itself in a ravine, to the north being a valley which sup- 
ports the whole population. 

The chief is at variance with a neighbor, who wishes to take 
advantage of his minority to invade his territories. But though 
the young chief, by the advice of the old men, resists, he will one 
day succumb, for the Chinese authorities at Tsamdo have been 
subsidized by the ambitious chief of Tchimbo-Nara, and they 
will interfere in his favor with a view to weakening the power 
of our host. 

April 27. — We saw the ambitious chief to-day. AYe had, 
however, to wait a very long time for him in the valley, his village 
being perched high up like an eagle's nest, and he himself being 
quite tipsy. As soon as he had i-ecovered the use of his legs, he 
descended from his aerie. He proved to be an enormous fellow, 
with gray eyes, but was pleasant in his cups, giving his orders 
with great decision, and setting everybody to work. The re- 
quired number of yaks were soon got together, the great chief 
spending his leisure moments in drinking astride across a bale, 
looking like a clumsy Silenus. Every now and then there issued 
from his ponderous bosom shouts with which the whole valley 
resounded, and which were the outcome of his great animal 
spirits. We left him with mutual expressions of good will, after 
having bought sheep from him for two shillings. 

Hamlets and farms abound hereabouts, built of rough stones, 
the terraces and roofs resting on trunks of trees. We are still in 
a wild district, but the natives live in houses, with signs of the 
early stage of civilization. They till their land better, and 
manure their fields, they wear stuif clothes, and nearly all the 
women adorn themselves with glass trinkets ; their hair is 
shorter, and they often wear it level with the shoulder ; whilst 
the women cut theirs over their foreheads into a fringe, and do 
not wear it down their backs in little plaits. Armed men are 
much rarer, as if there ^vere greater security than in the districts 
situated to the west. 



340 ACIWSS THIBET. 

To-day, after having, by a mistake, left the banks of the river, 
we followed a path which led us to a farm, where we came 
across a scene of Thibetan home life. In the yard, a man, bare 
to the waist, is skinning a sheep on the ground ; a child of eight 
or nine is holding it by the paws, and, as he bends down, his 
head is completely hidden by his falling hair. The dogs are 
eagerly awaiting the moment when the uneatable portions will be 
ilung to them. Seated on a stone and leaning against the wall, a 
handsome young woman, with bare neck and chest, is holding a 
distaff and spinning, in a calm attitude ; at her feet is a little girl? 
drawing out the wool. A man seated at her side is conversing 
smilingly with her ; another, who is sharpening a blade on a 
stone, with bare body, has his arms stretched out in the pose of 
the old knife-grinder to be seen at Florence. A plump little girl 
is playing with a puppy which has about as little clothing as her- 
self. Lower down, out in the sunshine, an old woman, with her 
shoi't white hair all in disorder, is lolling over a few cinders, 
enjoying the short sjoan of life that remains to her. By her side 
sleeps a very old dog, toothless and mangy, his muzzle resting on 
his wasted old paws ; like his mistress, he awaits death with the 
blue sky above him. 

At Gratou we f oimd ourselves amongst very unsociable people, 
from whom it seemed utterly impossible to purchase even a goat 
or a sheep. We now regretted that we had no dogs, for we left 
one behind us, a second was killed, while the third, a good watch- 
dog, has not been trained to catch and strangle sheep and goats, 
as the one that is dead had. As we could not induce these 
people to listen to reason — though a Mongolian lama, who joined 
us a few days ago and acts as our interpreter, tried in vain to 
persuade them to furnish us with meat — we attempted to seize 
some without permission. This brought upon Dedeken and 
Kachmed a shower of stones, and there were a few sharpshooters, 
posted on the roofs. A few revolver shots in the air, however, 
settled the matter. 

It has often been, and doubtless often will be, our fate to have 
difficulties with these Thibetans. They have never seen any 



FICKLENESS OF THE NATIVES. 341 

Europeans, and do not know how to treat ns ; while, fickle to an 
extraordinary extent, a mere nothing changes their attitude. 
They shift from the most abject submission to the most audacious 
insolence ; one moment with their foreheads on the ground, the 
next they are standing erect, swoi'd in hand. It would seem as 
though fear were at the bottom of all their emotions. One 
alarm sets them in one direction, then another cause of fear sets 
them off in another, and so their feeble will vacillates, shifting 
like a needle between two poles. They prefer before everything 
else relaxation and sleep ; and whether in order to be left quiet, 
or because they are put out with those who disturb them, they 
have outbursts of passion, like the man who killed the wolf by 
day because it frightened him by night. 

Their heads must be crammed with superstition, for it would 
seem as though they regarded strangers as mysterious beings, 
whom it is imperative to distrust, for to have come from afar 
they must have used witchcraft. Having noticed that these 
savages welcome the gift of a colored image, we distributed some 
among them at different times. A boy of fourteen or fifteen 
having approached us, I offered him one, with the result that 
he ran away. So I let it drop on the ground, whereupon he 
went up to it with great precaution, looking at it from a distance ; 
but, when the colors caught his eye, he drew nearer to examine 
it. Then he again retreated, but his curiosity brought him back 
again, and he beckoned to another lad who is older. The latter, 
in turn, examined this curious object, bending down and picking 
it up, and then ran after me, with a view to handing it back. 
When I told him to keep it, he was delighted, but a lama, about 
twenty years old, then came up and spoke to him sharply as 
though to inspire him with disgust for his present. They then 
consulted together for a moment, after which they proceeded to 
the stream, and left the image there. 

By the evening the inhabitants had calmed down, and eagerly 
implored our Mongolian lama not to fulfill his threat to go to the 
lamas' house to complain of having been struck. 

April 28. — At early dawn the natives began to get ready for 



342 ACROSS THIBET. 

US all that we wanted, and a mere glance sufficed to put to flight 
the chief of those ^vho gave us so much trouble yesterday. At 
Kari Meta ^ve pitch our tents at the doors of an extensive lama 
house, and witness a curious siq;ht. The lamas have en2:ao:ed 
the women of the neighboring villages to come and carry manure 
to their fields, for this red-soiled valley is carefully cultivated, 
and most of it belongs to them. They have just finished plow- 
ing, and the soil has the pink tinge of flesh from which the outer 
skin has been peeled off. While the lamas on the first floor of 
their monastery are chanting their prayers to an accompaniment 
of tambourines and cymbals, more than fifty women are wending 
theii" way in and out from the stables to the fields, with osier 
baskets on their backs. These they fill with ashes and manure, 
and then, in single file, like ants cai-rying their provender, pro- 
ceed to empty them, at the foot of a hill, in the newly plowed 
furrows. There is very little method and a good deal of noise 
over the work, which is superintended by a lame lama, who has 
frequently to hasten the steps of these ladies, for they are so 
interested in us that they keep edging out of their paths so as to 
get nearer to us, when they stop for a good look and chatter. 
But though he feels the responsibility of his post, the lame lama 
is not a whit less curious than they, and he, too, even while on 
the move, must look at us. This strong desire of his to do two 
things at a time affords us considerable amusement, for as one of 
his legs is much shorter than the other, he has to look at the 
ground each time that he puts his foot down, but, in his anxiety 
to watch us, he then turns his head in our direction. As he goes 
through his various maneuvers, he looks exactly like a mechani- 
cal toy ; marching along, telling the beads of a huge rosary, jerk- 
ing forward his short leg, lowering and then raising his head, 
twisting it to the right, leaning to the left, crying " For^vard " 
to his workwomen, then hurriedly throwing out his arms to 
recover his equilibrium, which he has lost by stumbling against a 
stone, shouting out again, and, in a word, tossing himself about 
in the most comical manner ima«:inable. 

Am one our female coolies is one whose close-shaven head indi- 



AT KARI META. 343 

cates that she has renounced marriage and taken the vow of celi- 
bacy; she is a lamaess. Neither handsome nor pretty, very 
short and thickset, she has a large head and brutish features ; 
and there is not a spark of intelligence in her face. The crowd 
of basket carriers arrives, chattering in the pleasing tones which 
come as such a surprise from such ugly throats ; for these 
Thibetans are apes with the voices of nightingales. All of a 
sudden our lamaess runs toward the file of fuel -gatherers, and 
goes straight up to a friend of hers, another close-shaven lamaess. 
They smile and bow to each other until their foreheads touch, in 
the same manner that two goats butt each other, after which 
these two schoolfellows go along side by side gossiping. 

Examining the house of the lamas, which, like all of its kind, is 
composed of cottages and small rooms in juxtaposition, with a 
larger hall set apart for their idol and for worship, we observe 
their agricultural implements. First, there is a rake, made like 
our mill rakes of a little board, shaped like a crescent, with a 
handle; then there is a pickax, consisting of a ^vooden cube, 
which is cut down to a point. The point is shod with an iron 
cone ; and as that metal is scarce hereabouts it is used sparingly. 
Another kind of pickax resembles that which we use for gar- 
dening, but the. edge only is made of iron, the rest being of 
wood; and it has a long handle. 

A layman is putting a thatch of barley-straw on the roofs of 
the cottages by means of a kind of double flail consisting of two 
switches, which are fastened together by a strap fixed to a handle. 
These switches serve to cut the straw into short bits, for it is not 
given to the cattle until it has undergone this preparation. Let 
me add that the people of Thibet are more careful about their 
cattle than about themselves. The horses, as well as the yaks, 
which carry our baggage, are well treated and fed in a very 
peculiar manner, with a kind of pap made with the " niouma " 
(a species of turnip), this food being put down their throats by 
means of a funnel made from a horn that has been hollowed out. 

On the roof of this habitation of the lamas we notice wind- 
mills turning prayers, and likewise tridents of metal, which have 



344 ACROSS THIBET. 

led people to believe that Lamaism was derived from the wor- 
ship of Neptune, the ruler of the waves. The little column sup- 
porting this trident is covered with stripes of black and white 
stuff. We also see a big T, surmounted by a crescent bearing 
on the concave side two spheres, placed one above the other. At 
one extremity of the bar of the T hangs a little bell. 

At Kari Meta we arranged, without much trouble, for our bag- 
o-ao-e to be carried to Tchoungo, which is situated above the 
river Tatchou. Tchoungo is a village of some importance, owing 
its reputation to the possession of an enormous obo, to walk 
round which at an ordinary pace takes three minutes. It sur- 
rounds the house of a lama who is, so to speak, its guardian ; and 
natives, who have come from the mountains, are incessantly turn- 
ing prayers around this pile, which they are careful to keep on 
their right side. Even very old people drag themselves slowly 
up to it, leaning on tlieir crutches, in order to accomplish their 
devotions. 

The weather is magnificent, and we have got down to 9000 feet 
above sea-level, and at last are enjoying a summer temperature. 
The thermometer shows a maximum of 77° in the daytime, and 
at night it only goes as low as 26°. 

After some difficulties with the authorities, whom we induced 
by threats to help us, we departed for the great lama settlement 
of Routchi. On leaving Tchoungo we ascended rising ground by 
following a picturesque gorge ; in two hours reaching a smooth 
pass, upward of 13,200 feet above the sea-level. It Avas a lovely 
bit of scenery ; rocks, juniper trees, briars, rhododendrons, brush, 
and groves of fir trees. On the steep bank of the river were 
some grottoes into which the water flows, while gigantic umbel- 
liferous plants with stalks as thick as a man's wrist are numer- 
ous, and there were plenty of spai'rows, curlews, and snipe. 

A])ril 29. — After a good night's rest we resumed our ascent, 
and in two and a half hours arrived at a height of 17,500 feet, 
at the summit of the Dala pass ; whilst toward the southwest a 
great mountain chain with snow-covered peaks, from 19,800 to 
21,500 feet high, is visible. Toward the nortli the mountains 



THE DAL A AND DJALA PASSES. 347 

rise in terraces, undulating as far as tlie eye can see ; they are of 
a grayish color and free from snow. The general appearance 
suggests an ocean with its waves turned into stone, the long 
swell of a calm sea, as sailors call it. 

The descent, or rather the " slide-down " on the snow, brought 
us once more to the desert, the slopes being bare, with here and 
there a few stunted junipers. In the valley of Dutchme we 
found some tents pitched, and had to wait a whole day for a fresh 
relay of yaks which had to be fetched from some distance. We 
then followed the course of the rivers De-Tchou and Se-Tchou, 
and passing along the banks of the latter, traversed forests of fir 
trees. Piles of split wood were lying about, and we had some 
good sport with musk deer and crossoptilons, a kind of white or 
slate-colored pheasant, with which these woods swarm. 

Then, when the Se-Tchou entered a gorge, we made for another 
pass, viz., the Djala, which is the name also of the whole moun- 
tain range. The Djala is 14,850 feet high ; a stony path leading 
to the obo, near which we halted to give our cattle a rest. From 
this point the eye ranged over the finest bit of country that we 
had seen so far : the slopes at our feet were covered with fir 
trees, rhododendrons, and junipers of intense green ; while higher 
up were grassy table-lands, dotted with herds of cattle, and near 
the crest, in the crannies, the snow was of a dazzling whiteness. 
It was not, however, nature which especially attracted our atten- 
tion, but a piece of man's handiwork in the form of a pagoda. 
No better spot could have been found for this pagoda, built in 
a large square^ rising in terraces, and serving, so to speak, as a 
pedestal for the column which towers like a golden flame toAvard 
the skies. Having lived, as we have done, for several months 
without seeing anything resembling a monument, we could easily 
imagine with what feelings the sight of such an edifice must in- 
spire the uncivilized Thibetan, and what a grand notion he must 
form of the great lama who dwells in it. Now one can compre- 
hend how great an influence architecture must exert upon the 
minds of men. It is evident that the Pliaraohs, by placing their 
pyramids in the desert where they appear so huge, did not intend 



348 ACROSS THIBET. 

to keep the sands in tlieir place, but to inspire mankind with 
respect and even reverence for those who had the power to raise 
up a mountain in the midst of grains of sand. Certain it is that 
the Thibetans have a profound veneration for this abode of the 
Tale Lama. Do they see a symbol in the seven double stripes, 
painted in white upon the black walls of the edifice ? Do they 
think at all, as they contemplate this pyramid which seems to be 
made of gold and to terminate in a flame mingling with the skies ? 
Do they see in that flame an allusion to the great soul that, accord- 
ing to Buddhism, permeates nature ? Perhaps not ; yet it cannot 
be doubted that the sight fills them with a mysterious awe. 

By the side of the beautiful pagoda, which is reached by a 
wooden bridge, may be seen a lama house, nestling against the 
mountain side, with its many terraces of painted cottages. The 
village of the laymen is lower down ; its low, box-like houses 
with flat roofs are crowded together in the peninsula of Routchi, 
which is washed by the river to the south, while breakwatei^s, 
formed by dovetailing the trunks of trees together, protect the 
banks from the river. In the village yaks pass to and fro, drag- 
ging the stems of fir trees ; for there is a considerable timber 
trade, from which the wealth of the lama house is chiefly de- 
rived. Leaving the village, we pass cows in the green meadows, 
and yaks wallowing in the ponds ; the trees, as they were rolled 
down into the valley, making a noise like thunder. The path 
dips into the deep shade of the firs, the wind is gently swaying 
the slender twigs and sighs through the branches ; the torrent-like 
Se-Tchou is beating against its steep banks. We have assuredly 
been transported into Switzerland, if not into the Himalayas. 

The country is rich, compared with what we have seen before. 
The fields are protected by hedges made of interlaced fir 
branches ; pieces of timber, fixed in the ground, inclose the pas- 
ture lands where browse the herds which manure the soil, and 
where the sheep and goats are shut up on account of their de- 
structive tendencies. Precautions are necessary, for barley is 
showing its green blades, and the people are therefore repairing 
the hedges, or making new ones with green branches. These 



CHINESE SOLDIERS. 349 

green branclies will get dry, and in winter, when the ground is 
covered witli snow instead of crops, will be used for firewood. 
The houses are nearly always built in one style, Avith walls made 
of clods of earth and stones mixed, and flat roofs placed on 
branches. They are, however, surmounted by latticeAvork for 
storing the fodder, which makes them look like buildings that 
have been abandoned when the first story was being begun, and 
the scaffoldino; of which has been left standinor. 

May 7. — We reach Homnda, a village built on a shelving 
road made out of conglomerate, skirted on the eastern side by a 
torrent that empties itself into the Se-Tchou about 450 yards 
farther on. We found stationed there, on post and police duty, 
a company of Chinese soldiers, more or less stupefied by the use 
of opium. They sold us eggs at as high a price as they could 
extort from us, and were excessively polite. Most of them had 
been there for many years, and, having married Thibetan wives, 
had forgotten their own language. To their police duties the}' 
pay but very little attention, and the brigands, if there are any, 
can carry on their operations with perfect security. In their 
exorbitant demands these Chinamen display an obsequiousness 
and a persistency that contrast greatly with the churlishness of 
many of the natives. 

From Houmda the road would have taken us eastward by 
Tsamdo. On reflection we determined to avoid this populous 
town, which contains many Chinamen under the rule of a manda- 
rin, for it would be difficult to get away if this mandarin of the 
Celestial Empire should take it into his head to prove his power. 
Prudence, therefore, bids us make a detour over the mountains 
toward the north. 

Maif 8. — To-day we visited Lagoun, a large industrial center, 
reached by a path marked out by the hedges which divide the 
fields from it. The houses lie very near each other, and, after 
counting a score of them, Ave observed an occupied space, a sort 
of square on Avhich Avood is piled up. Then Ave entered into the 
chiefs yard, AAdiere we were stared at by a number of idlers, 
amongst them several Avhose faces Avere blackened by smoke. 



350 ACROSS THIBET. 

These were " hands " from the works, for Lagoim has a manu- 
factory of all sorts of iron utensils, hatchets, pickaxes, etc. 

We visit this establishment, guided to it by the sound of 
hammers, to which we have long been strangers. By a low door 
we descend to an underground forge, four posts supporting the 
sloping roof by which the light enters and the smoke escapes. 
Someone is kneeling between two goatskin bellows which he 
w^orks alternately with either arm. This old man is bare to the 
waist, and looks like a denizen of the lower regions. His body is. 
almost transparent, his skin but parchment, his ribs protruding ; 
whilst his head is like that of a corjDse, and one long tooth is- 
visible in his huge mouth. His scanty hairs drop like a mane, 
while from the shoulders hang, by way of arms, two fiberless 
feelers. Five or six young men are standing erect, silent, lean, con- 
sumptive, blackened, perhaps mummified, for they are motionless, 
and speechless. And yet their dull eyes betray the fact that they 
are alive. The old man stops blowing, and, getting up, silently 
goes to a bag, fills a large wooden porringer with zambo, and sits. 
down, the younger ones squatting round him, each producing his. 
mug from the sheepskin hanging on his loins. The meal having 
been handed round, they pass a huge jug to the old man, who 
pours some water from it into his cup, the others following suit. 
Then with hollowed hands, as black and as bony as claws, they 
slowly knead their quota, quite silent, and fixing on us six pairs 
of expressionless eyes. 

We give the poor wretches a coin, which the old man takes 
with manifest stupefaction. Who ever gave him a present before ? 
He looks at the rupee, feels it, turns it over, and having satisfied 
himself that it really is silver, casts two glances at his fellow- 
workmen as if to assure them that there is no deceit about it, and 
smiles, and they smile too. Putting down their cups, they thank 
us by raising their thumbs, and then set to kneading their meal 
ao;ain. 

Their tools are decidedly poor. We see some very short one- 
handed hammers ; some with larger handles, two-handed ones ; 
large shears for one or two hands ; a trough hewn out of the 



^iV' INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT. 



351 



trunk of a tree contains the water in which they cool the iron ; 
the forge is an earthenwai'e trough in which burns charcoal that 
is enkindled by the bellows. By the side of the forge, half 
buried in the soil, is the trunk of a tree, in the stoutest part of 
which is a large bar of iron which does duty as an anvil. They 
also have boring machines, which consist of two bobbins with an 
interval between them, their one spindle being betAveen two 
small horizontal planks ; the gimlet being beneath, in an iron 
socket. These bobbins, of wood, are hollow, being filled wdth 
sand and "filings which are covered with skin ; the rotary move- 
ment is produced by means of cross handles fitted to the lower 
part. Such is this den of native industry, the Creusot of Thibet, 
and its equipment. 



1 \ \^\< 



. - tb 'l-m^ h^^ Him 




CHAPTER XIV. 

FROM LAME TO TCHANGKA. 

Lame— Lamda— Bad Food— Religious Malthusianism— Crossing the Satchou— Capture 
of a New -Born Monkey — Kiichoune — Ouochiclioune— A Fat Lama — Dzerine — 
Hassar — Thibetans and Chinese : A Contrast — Indetinite Dates — Rough and Ready 
Justice— Dotou— A Dignified Chinese Official— A Series of Prayer Mills— Rach- 
med in Action— The Chinese Ai-my — Parting with the Lama Guide— Tsonke— 
A Secret Christian — The Destruction of the Ba-Tang Mission— Burial-place of a 
French Missionary — Reception by the Mandarin of Tchangka— Four Swords for 
150 Men. 



May 9. — To-day we reached Lame, 
a small village where the Chinese have 
a post of soldiers, some of whom can 
scarcely speak their mother tongue. 
Two Thibetan chiefs came in due 
course to see us, and one of them, a 
iine-loohing man about forty, ex- 
changed a few ^vords with our lama, 
and went off again at once. 

We saw him again the next day at 
Lamda, on the banks of the Giome- 
tchou,, the waters of which form, with 
the Satchou and the Zetchou, the 
river of Schamde which, much lower 
down, goes by the name of the Me- 
kong. The Thibetan chief handed 
us a "cata" on behalf of his superior 
at Tsamdo or Tchamdo, and told us we had only to express our 
wishes for them to be gratified. He added that it was difficult 
to procure provisions here, but that in two days' time we should 
be in a better position, and should receive as much rice, mutton, 
and ilour as we required. It is easy to see by the rapidity with 
which his orders are executed that his authority in this region is 

353 




THIBETAN OF TCHOUNG. 



LAMDA. 



353: 



unquestioned, and it is the first time since leaving So that we 
have found the natives so obedient to orders. 

We reached Lamda over a pass 15,500 feet high, then descend- 
ing through sunlit gorges where mountain torrents bubbled 
and surged amidst j^leasant greenery. The heights are covered 
with rhododendrons, but lower down, amidst the thickets formed 




A THIBETAN VILLAGE. 



of poplar, birch, and cherry trees, one might fancy one's self in 
Europe. There is plenty of game too, and we kill some splendid 
" ithagines " with red tails and green plumage, pheasants, etc., our 
collection being swollen by some new specimen every day. 

If ay 10. — The weather has been magnificent, and last night 
the thermometer did not descend to freezing point. Ba-Tang is 
not far off, and the Thibetans are doing their best to redeem the 
promise they made at Dam to help us. 

Nothing is wanting to make our comfort complete but a better 
supply of food, for although we have abundance so far as^ 
quantity goes, the rice is musty, the butter rank, the flesh of the= 



354 AGEOSS THIBET. 

goats execrable, and the pheasants stringy ; only the Hodgson par- 
tridge being in the least toothsome. What we so long for is the 
day when we shall taste some good meat, vegetables, and fruits. 
Our tent is pitched at a spot which is at less than half the alti- 
tude of the point from which we started in the morning, and I 
amuse myself by watching a man and woman of the village whom 
we had employed to split some wood and fetch water, as they 
consume the remains of our supper, given them by Rachmed. 
They have taken off the pan in which the food was cooked, and 
the man, plunging his spoon into the mess, emptied it on to his 
hand, and then Jerked it into his mouth, looking at his compan- 
ion as much as to say, " First-rate ! " Then they took out the 
cups they carried in their bundles, filled them with rice and meat 
and lapped up these ingredients almost like water. They had 
never had such a good meal before. 
(U At LamJfSa the Giometchou is about 150 feet broad, running 

/ along between rocks with a good deal of noise, and we cross it at 
the bridge of Sougomba, where there is a large dwellingplace 
for lamas built on the hill. If we Avere to continue our journey 
northward, we should arrive at Sininfou, but after crossing the 
bridge, we turn round and encamp in a valley running down 
from the east to the Giometchou. Here, also, there is an abun- 
dance of game, including musk deer, partridges, pheasants, and 
hares ; and whilst the eastern slope of the mountains is thickly 
wooded, the western slope is nearly bare. From time to 
time we see hamlets which are rendered habitable by the water 
from the torrents being turned into the fields, through aqueducts 
hewn out of the trunks of trees. The houses are better built, 
the ground floor, used for housing stock, being made of stone 
with wooden doors, whilst the walls of the first story are of mud. 
Above are balustrades which are used as storeplaces, whilst if 
the house is built against a slope, there is often a second story. 

There are countless obos, and owing to the abundance of grass, 
the flocks and herds are very numerous ; a fat goat or sheep costs 
two rupees. 

Ma?/ 13. — We have scaled pass after pass, and to-day crossed 



RELIGIOUS MALTHUSIANI8M. 365 

the Ka-la, wliicli is 15,500 feet higli. We noticed in this region 
tliat many of tlie people have their heads closely shaven, the 
tonsure indicatino; those who have been made to take a vow of 
celibacy from their childhood. It is said that, in former times, 
young children were offered to Moloch in order to appease him, 
and that they were placed inside his statue, which was then made 
red-hot, in order that he might consume them. Most of the males 
are now consecrated to Buddha, and the youth thus set apart do 
not marry, while they do not allow their hair to grow any more, 
and wear a yellow garter on their leg. Owing to this system, 
families, as a rule, decline in number, and when the slightest 
epidemic occurs, they disappear, much to the satisfaction of the 
|)rolific Chinese. 

This religious Malthusianism is calculated to please the econo- 
mists who think that the world is really too small for mankind, 
and that there would soon be no place to lay one's head if people 
multiplied in conformity with the laws of Nature. But if they 
were to visit some of the waste places of the earth, they would 
come to a very different conclusion. 

May 14. — We cross the Satchou with our caravan of thirty- 
three people, including sixteen women, seven men with long 
hair, and ten lamas, upon a raft made out of trunks of trees ; this 
raft, which is paddled across by three men, being sixteen feet 
long by ten wide. The Satchou is veiy rapid at this point, run- 
ning at a speed of nearly four miles an hour between high banks, 
and being from 270 to 330 feet broad. On the banks we see 
willows growing, whilst in the woods are wild lilac trees, rasp- 
berry bushes, and violets. After crossing the Satchou, we do not 
meet nearly so many people suif ering from goiter as we had done 
in the villages further west, and the population seems to be 
altogether more vigorous and cheerful, having been put in better 
heart than usual this year by the frequency of the rains. Some 
ill-natured people had announced our coming, and had added that 
we should bring a drought with us. But as we brought rain 
instead, our partisans were triumphant, and we received a very 
friendly greeting. 



356 ACEOSS THIBET. 

May 15. — AVe left tlie banks of the river tliis morning and 
penetrated into tlie pine forests of the mountain side, our bivouac 
being in a glade near a torrent. The rain is falling in heavy 
showers, but the natives whom we employ to collect wood for 
the fires are young and cheerful, and go to work with a light 
heart, cracking their jokes as unconcernedly as if it were quite 
dry overhead and underfoot. 

From the time of leaving Tchoka, we see several instances of 
an admixture of Mongolian blood, there having been very few 
cases of this before we crossed the Satchou. The people, who 
have broader faces, are not rich, but their country abounds with 
game, and we add several animal specimens to our collection. 

May Vl. — We have scaled a pass of nearly 15,000 feet, pass- 
ing bare rocks covered with snow, and assailed by a snowstorm, 
which reminds us that winter is not yet over. Descending to 
Rouetouudo we see a lot of monkeys, two of which we kill ,- 
while Rachmed captures a new-born one, which he puts uuder 
the care of the little she-ape we have had with us since we left 
Houmda, where we bought her from some Chinese soldiers."^^ She 
takes so much care of her bantling that she suffocates it, and it is 
a touching spectacle to see her licking the little body and trying 
to recall it to life. 

In this region the tribes are somewhat independent, and as 
it sometimes happens that sevei'al different tribes supply a con- 
tingent of porters and carriers, there are frequent quarrels as to 
the distribution of loads, these quarrels not ceasing until one of 
the chiefs draws lots. 

May 19. — -Traversing grassy steppes, Avhere the bears go 
about in large groups, descending into gorges, and scaling some 
bare plateaus, we, to-day, reached Klichoune, and again saw meu 
armed with swords and carrying rifles. They are taller than 
any w^e have seen before, and have regular features and a proud 
air, looking at us with a certain amount of contempt. They 
made a difficulty about supplying us with yaks, and when these 
animals had been brought, the chiefs discussed angrily amongst 
themselves whether we should be allowed to load them. Per- 

* She is now in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. 



AT OUOCHICHOUNE. 359 

mission being given at last, we crossed tlie La Tchou, near a 
villa2:e where a Chinaman carries on trade. After three hours' 
march the drivers refused to advance further, and began unload- 
ing their animals, with the intention of leaving us in the desert. 
A¥e had to take prompt action, and compelled them to advance 
by flourishing a revolver over their heads, but they did so at a 
very slow rate, and with a sneering sort of laugh, pretending 
that they must stop again to load the yaks better. However, 
we made them understand that this was no time for Joking, and 
compelled them to step along for live hours, but had to look so 
close after them that there was no time to go after the bears 
that we could see all about the steppe. Rachmed killed one 
yesterday. 

In the evening we make friends with our yak drivei's, and 
they promise to do a long stage the next day. It freezes at 
night, for we are at 8450 feet, the minimum being 25° F. 

3Iay 20. — Having found some warm springs not far from our 
camp, we descended the valley as far as Ouochichoune, where we 
saw black tents on the river banks. The chief of the district 
came to say that two Chinamen had brought him orders not to 
sell us anything, but he did not intend to obey them, and would 
let us have as many yaks and horses as we might require. This 
is a simple matter, for stock of all kinds is abundant, and a good 
sheep costs a rupee. 

We are visited by several lamas, one of them being an enor- 
mous man, and this strikes us all the more because we have seen 
so many thin people since we entered Thibet. Fatness is the 
appanage of the chiefs and of the rich in this, as in all other 
Eastern countries ; and it is curious to note that the same Thibe- 
tan word (bembo) is used to designate a high rank, or the good 
condition of a sheep or a yak, just as " gordo," in Spanish, is 
alike applied to fat or to wealthy people. Whilst upon questions 
of philology, I may mention that the cuckoo, which has received 
an onomatopoeian name in all languages, is kouti in Thibetan, 
kounjou in Chinese, kokouska in Russian, kokou in the Tarantchi 
dialect, and pakou in Uzbeg. 



360 ACROSS THIBET. 

To return to the lamas, those at Ouochichoune lead a very 
easy life. Here, too, we are eye-witnesses of a procession, in 
which a lama rides a horse led by two women, who are preceded 
by four others burning sweet herbs, the incense of which rises 
up to his nostrils, while six more bear presents that have been 
given him for the prayers he has recited. The good man rides 
imperturbably on, grinding his prayer mill. 

May 21. — To-day we meet with another lama on horseback, 
protected from the sun by a peaked straw hat with broad brim, 
and followed by three women, barefooted and bareheaded, driv- 
ing three yaks which were carrying his luggage. 

May 22. — We reach Dzerine by way of mountains which 
might rather be called hills, and as no more snowy peaks are to 
be seen on the horizon, it might be imagined that we were about 
to emerge upon the plain. But this is only due to the cramped 
horizon, for as soon as we scale a pass we can tell by w^hat a 
chaos of peaks, ridges, and chains we are shut in ; indeed, we shall 
see nothing more of the plain until Ave reach the Tonquin delta. 

At Dzerine we received a visit from the second Thibetan chief 
of the Goundjo, whoxtold us that the Chinese are doing all they 
can to prevent us going to Ba-Tang, that they have vehemently 
urged his superior to refuse us the means of transport and pro- 
visions, but that the latter would do as we desired. Having 
arranged for him to accompany us, until we have found an 
interpreter speaking both Thibetan and Chinese as he does, we 
make arrangements for the transport of our baggage ; and as the 
population of Dzerine is not large enough to supply all the 
porters we require, the chief sends out horsemen and men on foot 
to requisition them. The porters arrive in due course, many of 
them being very tall, and measuring six feet two inches. They 
have very large faces, with the skull tapering to a point, like an 
egg, dental prognathism being the general rule. They are very 
vigorous and good-natured, playing together like children, whilst 
their houses are built like those we saw at preceding stages, 
though here and there are attempts at windows with wooden 
shutters. 




CROSSING THE SATCHOU. 



VILLAGE OF HA8SAB. 363- 

May 24. — Leaving Dzerine with a caravan composed of several 
petty chiefs, who are roost anxious to serve us, we follow the 
narrow valley until we reach, by an adjacent gorge, above which 
is built a lama house, a gentle ascent leading to a pass of 13,100 
feet, after having crossed a first one at an altitude of 150 feet 
less. This stage was got through very cheerily, our carriers 
singing and amusing themselves all the way, like packs of school- 
boys, and greeting us with a smile every time they passed us. 

By way of wooded plateaus and mountain spurs, where bears, 
wolves, foxes, and pheasants abound, we reached a gorge leading 
to the village of Hassar, which is perched upon a promontory at 
the junction of the gorge with the valley where flows the river 
Mahtchou. There are a few patches of marsh and of cultivated 
land in the delta, and we watch the plows, drawn by yaks, at 
work, followed by the men sowing the grain, who walk along 
with measured tread, whilst the women stand about and call out 
to frighten away the crows and pigeons, which fly off to the wil- 
low trees lining the pathway. The slopes of the mountain are 
bare of trees, and it is only very high up that one can see any 
pines overhanging the heights where the flocks are feeding. 

The houses of Hassar are all crowded together on two sides 
of a street. It is not every day that one sees a street in Thibet, 
and we lose no time in going off to encamp on a piece of fallow. 
The curiosity our presence excites is good-natured, and the chiefs 
endeavor to meet our wishes, as we have gained a reputation for 
being generous, and it is known that we give medicine to those 
who ask for it, but that, while paying handsomely for what is 
done for us, we will not stand any nonsense. Our lama, Losene, 
is very useful to us, as he has the art of being at once patient 
and energetic, while he frightens the recalcitrants by warning 
them that we are terrible people owing to our arms of precision. 
Now and then we awe the natives by the distance we fire a bul- 
let, and by the number of birds we kill at one shot. Losene, to 
whom we have repeated the thing a score of times, represents 
us as being " very good to those who are good, and very hard 
upon the bad." 



364 ACROSS THIBET. 

Not far from our tent is a naked boy, three or four years of 
age, wlio lias an enormous head, a big stomach, and a bent spine. 
The poor child cannot walk, as his legs have no power, and one 
can tell by his deformed knees and hands that he is in the habit 
of dragging himself along like some creeping thing. He has a 
bestial expression and a dull, lifeless eye. The chief of the dis- 
trict helps him up, to show us that he cannot stand without sup- 
port, and adds, " No father or mother." 

Our lama, Losene, takes a piece of money out of his purse and 
gives it to the poor boy. This kindness of heart differentiates 
the Thibetan from the Chinese, for again and again have I seen 
people dying of hunger in the Celestial Empire without anyone 
paying the slightest heed to them, while the ferocity and evil 
disposition of the Chinese children is something incredible. 

In the valley of the Mahtchou were many houses in ruins, 
and the natives, being questioned as to who demolished them, 
replied that this was the work of the Sokpou, who live in the 
north, and that the latter, having heard that the lama houses to 
the south contained a good deal of treasure, made a raid upon 
the district, massacring the inhabitants and burning the houses 
and forests. 

In reply to further questions on the same subject, Ave were 
told that the survivors of these massacres returned and asked for 
assistance from the neighboring tribes. Money was found for 
them by the lamas, and the fortresses and crenellated walls on 
the hills were built. They had been allowed to fall into dis- 
repair since a sense of security returned, no recent attacks hav- 
ing been made by these Sokpou. 

"But can you explain more precisely where these Sokpou 
live ? " 

" They live on the route taken by the servants whom you 
sent back before we started on our journey. Their country is 
further off than Natchou." 

" In the Tsaidame, then ? " 

"Yes, that's it." 

" And when did this invasion take place ? " 



INDEFINITE DATES. 365 

" A very long time ago." 

This is one more proof of liow impossible it is in the East to 
obtain the slightest historical information. It would seem as if 
the present alone interested them. Trustworthy documents are 
not to be had, and the historians who are content to derive their 
materials from Asiatic sources are not likely to understand much 
of the past which they seek to revive. 

After leaving Hassar, we mounted the course of a river which 
winds about among lofty rocks, forming a narrow defile. A very 
awkward pathway, a rough sort of staircase cut in the rocks, 
leads to a cultivated valley three or four miles long, where are 
to be seen inhabited villages and numerous ruins. Once more 
taking the southeasterly direction, which we had abandoned for 
a time, we climbed a plateau and descended again into another 
valley, where we came upon the village of Akker. Our arrival 
was heralded by thunder and lightning, and we took refuge from 
the storm under some fine poplars, when we had time to note 
that the fields were well cultivated and inclosed, and that value 
is placed upon timber, some small poplars, recently planted, hav- 
ing been surrounded by thorns to prevent the cattle getting at 
them. When the sun came out after the rain, the valley seemed 
to be a sea of blood, for the soil is quite red, and glittered after 
being so deluged with rain. 

Having changed our beasts of burden at Akker, we pitched 
our camp at Landjomme on a small plateau with just room for a 
score of houses. Our tent is near a spring, under poplais, which 
at a distance we took for willows, owing to the similarity of 
foliage. 

The inhabitants, having seen that we shot the small birds, try 
to frighten them away by throwing stones. They appear the 
most insolent of any of the peojDle we have met with so far, 
the native chiefs exercising an administrative rather than a 
patriarchal authority. Thus the Thibetan chief who accom- 
panies us has a copper cup out of which he is in the habit of 
drinking, and this cup, which he has left for a moment, suddenly 
disappears. No one has seen it, of course, but when he tells two 



366 ACROSS THIBET. 

of his men to seize one of the onlookers and flog him till the 
cup is returned, it reappears as if by magic. 

In the evening, when the flocks are being driven home, we 
hear a doleful dirge like that of the Mussulman women who 
accompany the dead to the cemetery, and very possibly a body 
is being taken up to be laid out on the summit of the moun- 
tain. 

Rain comes down at night, when we leave for Dotou, with a 
cloudy sky and north wind, and in the morning we are told that 
two Chinese from Ba and one from Tchamdo are waiting for 
us there. The Chinese mandai^in recently sent from Pekin to 
Lhassa has just been through Ba and Tchamdo, and we learn 
that, having been informed of our journey by the Thibetan 
authorities, he told them that they were to assist us, and that his 
predecessor said the same. Be this as it may, the Thibetans will 
help us in carrying our luggage as far as Tatsien-Liou, and it is 
the reverse of unpleasant to have these promises renewed just as 
we are about to come into contact with the Chinese authorities. 

The ride to Dotou from Landjomme is over some bare table- 
lands, and a very easy pass of 10,800 feet, leading to a region 
undulating like the last spurs of a mountain chain. A few ham- 
lets are to be seen in the low ground, a few ruins on the hills, 
and the whitened walls of a few lama houses, but there are no 
more wooden houses, as this is not a forest region. In three 
hours' time we arrived at the lama house of Dotou, built upon a 
level piece of ground near the Mahtchan River, and were soon 
surrounded by a crowd of inquisitive people, who held their noses, 
either out of disgust or out of astonishment. 

A few paces from where our tent is pitched is another in- 
habited by the Chinese, of whom mention was made to us at 
Landjomme. These latter mix for a few minutes with the crowd 
which is having a look at us, and then return to their tent, emerg- 
ing from it soon after in " full fig " to pay us a visit. Their chief 
is a petty mandarin with a white button, equivalent to about 
the rank of corporal, but that does not prevent him from address- 
ing us with great dignity. Having shown his card and greeted 



A DIGNIFIED CHINESE OFFICIAL. 



367 



lis by pressing liis fists close together, he says that he has been 
sent by the chief of Djankalo (Tchaugka) in order to welcome 




BABIES OF KOIOUM. 



US and accompany us further on. He is entii'ely at our disposal, 
and hopes we will come to his tent and take a cup of tea. In 



368 



ACEOSS 'THIBET. 



fact, lie had been beginning to get uneasy about us, as he had 
expected us a week sooner, and was afraid that some accident had 
happened. However, he was very glad we had ari'ived safely^ 




SCENE EST INHABITED THIBET. 



as his provisions were begmning to run short, but now he could 
send off a messenger to his superior at Djankalo and say that 
we had arrived all right. After this avalanche of compliments, 
he mthdrew with comic gravity. I may add that there are no- 



RACHMEL IX ACTIOS. 369 

people who possess the art of assimilation to so perfect a degree 
as the Chiuese, who can either ascend or descend the social lad- 
der ^^"ith astonishing rapidity. 

The principal attraction of the Dotou lama house is a series of 
prayer mills. Beneath a gallery, running almost entii'ely round 
the house, are enormous bobbins composed of printed prayers 
and transfixed by a long piece of wood, which is held in position 
by t^vo beams. These bobbins are tui'ned by hand, and as it is 
said that each is composed of 10,000 prayers, and as there are at 
least 100 of them, it is easy to see what an enormous quantity 
of prayers can be said in a walk round the Ijuilding. Our arrival, 
however, distracted the worshipers fi'om their pious occupation, 
and ^vheu ^ve unloaded our beasts, they came and felt the weight 
of our packages and wanted to put theii' hands on oui' clothes, 
their attitude being intolerably insolent. TThat interested them 
most was our wild yak skin, which they would have pulled all 
to pieces if we had not made them keep their hands off it. 

I had scarcely gone into my tent when Prince Heniy called 
me to come out. and when I went I found a fi'ee fight going on, 
^^4th Eachmed holding down a nian all covered "^^T-th blood, and 
others ilourishino' their swords or throwino- stones. Akkan and 

CD O 

Abdullah effected a clearance by fii'ing a few shots from their 
revolvers in the air, and the Chinese made off, leaving two or 
three of their comrades prisoners, including the man on whose 
chest Eachmed had got his knee. The cause of the disturbance, 
as it thf n appeared, was that this latter, one of the chiefs, had 
tried to handle the yak skin, in spite of Rachmed's injunction, 
and so from words they had come to blows. However, in re- 
sponse to the entreaties of oui' lama, we set the captives at hbeity 
again, and then our Chinese friends, who had held well aloof 
while all this was going on, appeared on the scene, and assuming 
the most valiant air, went out on the terrace of the lama house, 
overlooking the place whither oui' assailants had fled. The chief 
then came back, and in the course of a conversation said these 
people were quite beyond management. " AVe give them good 
advice."" he added, '' but it is all to no purpose. They are such 



370 ACROSS THIBET. 

ill-conducted savages that neither at Pekin nor Lhassa is it thought 
desirable to have them for subjects. It is quite impossible to 
quit the highroad and penetrate into their mountain retreats, 
and we never meet them without there being disputes. Last 
year they robbed an envoy of the Emperor, and they recently 
refused to provide beasts of burden for our mandarin who was 
going to Lhassa. We ourselves could only get these horses by 
holding out threats that you would fire on them when you came. 
Nothing is to be done with them by reasoning ; and if we use 
force they give us back blow for blow. So all we can do is to 
leave them alone, though we are 1300 men distributed over the 
posts between Lhassa and Tatsien-Lou." 

When we look at the three soldiers whom the Liantai 
(treasurer-payer) of Ba-Tang had sent us as a protection, we 
could not help smiling to one another. It is easy to understand 
that the Thibetans do not feel any alarm when they see them 
coming. 

These three men do not convey a very high idea of the 
Chinese army, for one is a bloodless opium-smoker, devoid of all 
vigor, shivering in the mountain air, though we are barely 
10,000 feet high, so sensitive to cold that he covers up his ears 
even in the daytime, as well as his head and neck. He has yel- 
low teeth and a lackluster eye, and it is as much as he can do to 
keep on his horse. He admits that his pay is six rupees a month 
and that he spends half of it on tobacco. As to the wearer of 
the white button, whom we have nicknamed the " Colonel," he 
does not smoke opium, and is a most consequential little man. 
It is amusing to see him strut about, swinging his arms, strad- 
dling his legs, and bending his figure, whilst his hands with their 
long finger nails are, Avith much affectation, thrust out of his 
broad sleeves. 

The third is not so martial or warlike, and has been sent to 
join the two others because he speaks Thibetan. Unlike them, 
he has not a retrousse nose, but regular features. 

At Dotou we dismissed our guide, the lama Losene, who was 
delighted with the presents we gave him, including a few chro- 



PARTING FROM THE LAMA GUIDE. 371 

mos representing lioii-sliooting iu Algeria, and bear-hunting in 
the Ural. He bade us farewell with emotion, and wished us a 
pleasant journey. Although we have a Thibetan interpreter, 
and, after leaving Tchangka, shall meet Chinese military posts, 
the worthy Losene urged us to be on our guard, for, as far as 
Ba-Tang, we should traverse a region inhabited by very ill-dis- 
posed and dangerous men, who might attack us as we go through 
the mountains. 

Bearing this in mind, we take our cartridges and keep close 
to our baggage, with an eye on the ridges above the road. The 
route we follow reminds us of the highlands of Thibet, and we 
see many flocks under the ^vatchful eye of shepherds who carry 
long guns with pikes at the end of them, with black tents under 
the protection of the same fierce dogs. All trace of vegetation 
has disappeared, whereas a few days ago we could have fancied 
ourselves in the Alps, with jasmine, lilac, tulips, and poppies 
all about us. 

May 28. — Sleet is falling, with a bitterly cold southeast wind, 
and we wonder if winter is going to return. Leaving the valley, 
which we have followed since Dotou, we traversed a pass of over 
13,000 feet, leading to an undulating steppe, with peat-bogs and 
a few black tents, dotted about with flocks. We halted near 
these tents, the occupants of which were not so rudely inquisitive 
as the natives of Dotou, and learnt that the place is called Grati 
by the Chinese and Hado (with an aspirate) by the Thibetans. 
The route from Hado to Tara first lies over a pass of 13,000 feet, 
and then through a grassy valley, beyond which are some pine- 
^lad slopes, with a few^ patches of cultivated land within half an 
hour of Tara. There are no traces of irrigation, but beyond 
Tara, which is situated upon a sort of natural terrace, vegetation 
reappears ; the pines, the poplars, the oak with leaves like those 
of the holly tree, the wild raspberry, and the thorn giving the 
Talley a delicious odor. Where the valley opens out, a chapel 
has been built, and above is a lama house. Following the right 
bank of the Tsonron, w^e pass through various hamlets. As 
wood is plentiful, there are a great many chapels and chalets 



372 ACROSS THIBET. 

built of the material, so that we might again fancy ourselves ou 
the Alps. The inhabitants are a fine set of men, some of whom 
wear hats with broad w^hite brims, looking like the Mexican 
gauchos, while their wives have so far modified their dress that 
they wear petticoats tightened at the waist, instead of tying 
their pelisses tight over their haunches. 

The whole of this valley is very full of animation, and in the 
pine woods to the south of it, the villages are perched like nests, 
amongst the verdure. We halted at Tsonke, the houses of which 
are built upon the left bank of an afiiuent of the Tsonron, with 
a white- walled lama house on an eminence above. The chiefs of 
this village were very civil, and were ready to supply us with 
what we wanted. Their horses, however, are not what they 
might be, though bigger than those we have hitherto had, this 
increase in size being due, as we are told, to their having been 
crossed Avith the Sininfou breed. 

The stage from Tsonke to Tchounneu is a delightful one, for 
on leaving the valley the road rises at once to a plateau covered 
with pines and oaks — the leaves of which are like those of holly 
— and dotted here and there with grassy glades and with gorges 
in which torrents babble. The path is through the wood, well 
protected from the sun, and with squirrels darting from branch 
to branch. By way of two small passes we got to Tchounneu, 
and encamped in an inclosed meadow, a mild southeast wind 
making things very agreeable. The inhabitants appear to be 
rather violent, judging by the readiness with which one of them 
drew his sword when one of our men told him to keep his hands 
off our luggage. The incident, however, was not repeated. 

The Thibetan interpreter chatted part of the evening with us 
and said, as we had assomed from his regular features, his father 
was a Mussulman, and that he was quite young when he came 
to Ba-Tang with the missionary Lou.'^" He described this mis- 
sionary as being very kind and intelligent, speaking and writing 
both Chinese and Thibetan very correctly, as giving all he had 
to the poor, and as knowing all about everything, even the mend- 
ing of a watch. 

* Father Renou, as I afterward discovered. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BA-TANO MISSION. 373 

Europeans may smile at the idea of a man being regarded as 
wonderful because lie knows how to set a watch right, but the 
Chinese only recognize our superiority to them in the art of con- 
structing machinery, if they do even in that. To return to our 
interpreter, who is a Christian, though he does not like to own to 
it, he is the father of five children, and he has been selected to 
come and meet us because he speaks Thibetan and Chinese. 
Asked as to why he had left Father Lou, he said, " I did not 
leave him. He died twenty years ago, without a priest by his 
bedside, surrounded by his Christians, who adored him, and who 
were heartbroken. Before death, he said where he would like 
to be buried, indicating a spot on the mountain side, where he 
had planted a small knife in the ground. AVe did as he 
bade us, and when we get to Tchangka, I will show you the 
place." 

" Have you remained at Tchangka since ? " 

" No, I went to Ba-Tang." 

" Why did you not stay there ? " 

" Then you don't know that the Christians Avere driven out 
from there two years ago, the lower classes having been excited 
against them ? " 

'' By whom ? " 

" By some ill-disposed persons who accused them of having 
been the cause of the drying-up of a lake in the mountain, which 
admits of the fields about Ba-Tang being irrigated. So the peo- 
ple destroyed the houses and chapel of the Christians, and drove 
them away, the schoolteacher, who attempted to protect the 
holy books, being killed." 

" What did the Chinese mandarin say ? " 

" Nothing." 

" Were no damages paid for this ? " 

" It appears that the missionaries will get some, for you have 
a minister at Pekin, who has put in a claim to the Tsong-li- 
Yamen, and we are told that justice will be done. In the mean- 
while, we have to dissimulate, and many Christians have died of 
starvation. 



374 ACROSS THIBET. 



" You acknowledge you are Christians. Why did you not say 
so sooner ? " 

"I had seen that there was a priest amongst you, and I even 
thought the chief was a bishop in disguise, for we are expectino- 
fresh priests." 

Thus it was that we heard about the destruction of the Ba-Tanof 
Mission, which Monsignore Biet, bishop of Tatsien-Lou, had 
already announced by a letter in the Missions Gatholiques, and at 
the same time we learnt that the Chinese government readily 
makes fine promises which it does not keep, and that foreign 
diplomatists are easily contented with smooth words, wrongly 
imagining that the interests of Europe can be separated from 
those of the Catholic missionaries. If they were to travel in the 
heart of the Celestial Empire, they would see that a European is 
considered by the people as the representative of a nation which 
is loathed, and which, though tolerated on the coast, is mal- 
treated and killed at every available opportunity inland. To 
submit to the pillage of the missions, is to encourage attacks uj3on 
the Consulates. 

June 1. — When we resume our journey, the weather is de- 
lightful, the minimum for the night having been 65°, while 
the fact of this being the 1st of June, and of our being due 
in a month at Tatsien-Lou, where we shall get news of Europe, 
imparts fresh vigor to our steps as we descend the valley. We 
only hope that the meeting with the mandarins at Tchangka and 
Ba-Tang may not raise fresh difficulties to delay our first meeting 
with Europeans, a few days hence. The valley is pleasant 
enough with its fields of scanty barley, and its stream with salt 
deposit on the banks, and as we get a little further on, we come 
upon a lama house built upon a promontory at the junction of 
two valleys. All the lamas are out on the walls to see us pass, 
and most of them are remarkable for their corpulence. 

From the valley we climb to a table-land covered with pine 
woods, and reach the pass of 18,000 feet which leads down to 
Tchangka. Westward appears another valley, from which emerge 
long files of yaks carrying heavy loads, and our interpreter says 



BURIAL PLACE OF A FRENCH MISSIONARY. 



375 



that it is the liigli road to Lliassa, whilst, pointing to two upright 
stones, he tells us that it is at the foot of them that Father Lou 
and another Christian are buried. It is rather strange that a 
French tomb should be found at the meeting-place of the ways 




RUINS IN THE VALLEY OF THE MAHTCHOU. 



which other Frenchmen have been the first to trace in the 
unknown land of Thibet, for it is at Tchangka that we get on to 
the route of Fathers Hue and Gabet, which, at a later period, 
Fathers Renou, Fage, and Desgodins, followed part of the 
way. 

A Chinaman arrives on foot, and says that the Mandarin of 
Tchangka wishes to receive us in state, and as a few green trees, 
surrounded by a palisade, are visible in the small plain we express 
a desire to encamp beneath their shade. We are agreeably sur- 
prised to fiud that this has already been done, our tastes having 



376 



ACROSS THIBET. 



already beeu made kuowu in advance by the mandarin wlio liad 
gone on in front. So we make our way toward the town of 
Tchangka, if the name of town can be given to a small group of 
houses ; and as we enter, we find the garrison of the place drawn 
up in line. It consists of about twenty warriors of all ages, 




LAMA HOUSE AT DOTOU. 



whose sole weapon is an oilskin parasol. They have all of them 
a most woe-begone and starved appearance, and, as may be seen 
from their glassy look and emaciated features, most of them are 
opium smokers. In order to conform with Chinese etiquette, we 
alight from our horses and pass in front of these troops, who do 
us honor by kneeling on the ground and pronouncing words 
which we do not comprehend. Then we mount our horses again, 
and go off to the garden, which is shut in by tall and leafy 
poplars. The crowd, composed of Thibetans, Chinese, and half- 
breeds, surges round us with noisy and disdainful curiosity, 
and escorts us to the tents which the mandarin has put up 
for us. 



RECEPTION BY THE MANDARIN OF TGHANGKA. ^11 

Very soon after our arrival we receive a visit from four soldiers, 
one of ^vlioin has accompanied us from Dotou, and from two 
white buttons, including the corporal whose consequential appear- 
ance is described above. They have come to present us the 
respects of the garrison, and to offer us a box of zamba and a 
box of beans, in which one or two dozen eggs have been placed ; 
but whilst they are making their genuflections, their attendants 
whip off the boxes — for fear, no doubt, that we shall accept the 
presents. This is a great disappointment to Abdullah, who dotes 
on eggs, and so it is to Rachmed and Akkan, A^ho load the 
garrison with insults, and only recover their equanunity ^vhen 
they see five other warriors arrive with a table in the form of a 
large wicker basket, which they are can-png on their shoulders 
with a pole, and inside which are visible several cups filled with 
different ingredients. This, the corporal informs us, is a re2:)ast 
sent by the Mandarin of Tchangka, who regrets that he is not 
well enough to pay us a visit to-day, but hopes to do so 
to-morrow. After thanking hmi for his kind attention, we ask 
the speaker to supply us ^vith some fresh eggs, chicken, and pork, 
as we have seen several pigs about the streets. The corporal 
promises to go and see about this, and Ave sit doAAii to table, in the 
literal sense of the word, for the first time these many months 
l^ast. The staple of the meal consists of slices of pork and 
chicken cut up into small pieces. The whole is cooked in pig's 
lard, and Rachmed makes off", like the good Mussulman he 
is, whilst Abdullah, whose voracity is stronger than all the pre- 
scriptions of the Koran, enjoys the rather tasteless dishes, fol- 
lowed by a dessert of balls of pastiy, inside Avhich are bits of 
colored sugar, and a small bottle of ara — a honible concoction 
of spirit. 

This meal delights several of our men, who have got tired of 
the bad food on the road, mutton and goat flesh being so repug- 
nant to some of them that they can only eat bread, or rather a 
paste made of barley or Ijean meal. Whilst we are enjoying 
this repast, a Thibetan chief, who is the most important man in 
the region, arrives and treats us ^\\i\l great civility. It seems 



378 ACBOSS THIBET. 

tliat orders were seut to Tcliaugka concerning us three weeks ago 
by the Chinese chief at Lhassa, and that it is six weeks ago that 
it was known that twelve men with camels were advancing on 
Lhassa ; the Ta-Lama of which had sent orders about us to the 
lamas and the Thibetan people. 

When we ask to whom belongs the garden where we are 
encamped, we are told it is the property of the garrison, and 
when we inquire how this is, the answer was : " It used to belong 
to Chinese bonzes, who had built a pagoda surrounded by trees, 
but the Thibetans, having risen in rebellion, killed the bonzes 
and destroyed the pagoda. But the Chinese collected numerous 
troops, again reduced the Thibetans to subjection, and, in order to 
punish the rebels, insisted, amongst other things, that this ground 
should be made over to the garrison of Tchangka. The soldiers 
have put a wall round it, and feed their stock there, whilst, as 
the site is a convenient one, it has been used for entertainments,, 
promenades, religious festivals, and military parades." 

" Do the soldiers often drill ? " 

" Now and then." 

'' When did they drill last ? " 

" Two years ago." 

"Why don't they drill oftener?" 

" They have no arms. There are only four swords at Tchangka 
for 150 men; the others are in the stores at Ba-Tang." 

"Are there really 150 soldiers? We have not seen more than 
thirty or so since we came." 

" There ought to be, for the mandarin draws pay for that 
number. But as he himself receives a salary of not more than 
five or six ounces of silver a month, he increases his pay by 
reducing the contingent. Those who die are not replaced, and 
as most of the soldiers are married, their male children are put 
down on the roll, so that they may receive their father's pay 
when they are old enough to take their place. This is why you 
have seen lads of thirteen or fourteen among the soldiers drawn 
up in line to salute you." 

" Which are the unmarried soldiers ? " 



DREAMING OF BROILED CHOPS. 



379 



" The opium smokers, wlio have not enough money left to keep 
a wife and family." 

" The women are Thibetans, are they not ? " 

" Thibetans or half-breeds." 

When the corporal has gone, the old interpreter confides to us 
that he will not come with us to Ba-Tang, for, he says, " Our 
chief hates me, and I know that he is intriguing with the man- 
darin to accompany you further, and as the mandarin is, like 
him, a native of Setchou, he is sure to have his way and take my 
place." We ask the interpreter to get in a good supply of eggs, 
for we have not much confidence in the corporal, and we know 
how readily the Chinese promise all one asks, and how cleverly 
they get out of keeping their word. Still, we have been told 
that we shall have some fresh pork to-morrow, and we go to bed 
dreaming of broiled chops which are sure to be delicious. 




ftp^ 



PRAYING MILL AT DOTOU. 



CHAPTER XV. 



AMONG THE CHINESE. 

Eeligious Prophylaxy — " Red" and "Yellow" Lamaism — The Lamas as Capitalists — 
From Tchangka to Kouchou — The Tea Trade between China and Thibet — Lein- 
diinne — Anarchy — Chinese Inns — The Blue River (Kin-Cha Kiang) — Frenchmen in 
Thibet — Chinese Justice — An Orgie — Chinese Soldiers : The Courage of Numbers — 
At Ba-Tang — A Series of Questions — Tatsien-Lou — The French Missionaries There — 
A Difficulty with the Mandarin — Apology — Chinese Administration — Sending Home 
the Collection of Photographs— The Red River — On French Soil — Hanoi — The 
Future of Tonquin — Conclusion. 

June 2. — Last night tliere was a mini- 
mum temperature of 27° and tliere has 
been a south wind all the morning, fol- 
lowed by rain. Three shots announced 
that this was the fifteenth day of the 
Chinese month, when the people go 
to the pagoda to do reverence to the 
statues, the secretary of the mandarin 
informing us that his master had gone 
there, and might be too occupied all the 
rest of the day to pay us his promised 
visit, whilst he would not like to intrude 
upon us in the evening. 

Then he handed us a long letter in 
Chinese and Thibetan, which, upon his reading it out, told us that, 
having arrived on the fourteenth day of the moon, we were to leave 
on the sixteenth, and that we were to be provided with six saddle 
horses, six pack horses, and thirty-three yaks. Two soldiers were 
to go ahead and collect the horses, while two others were to accom- 
pany us. And in five days we were to reach Ba-Taug. This piece 
of news was very welcome, for we had had enough of arguing and 
fighting at each relay. So we thanked the representative of the 
authorities, and asked him to convey our compliments to the 

380 




A DANCER. 



RELIGIOUS PROPHYLAXY. 381 

THandarin, just making an allusion to the promised fresh pork. 
He said that some should be sent to us forthwith, but Chinese 
superstitions, concerning which I might, if time allowed, write a 
long chapter, prevented us from eating the flesh of one of the 
small black pigs which run about in Tchangka. The lamas had 
ordered the slaughter-house of the town to be closed, because 
prayers were at this moment being offered up for rain, and it 
would not do to offend the deity by an act of bloodshed. To 
kill a pig at this moment would, we gather, excite the anger of 
the gods, and the harvest would be endangered. So it is all up 
with the pork chops ! 

The w^hole population is given over to prayer, men, w^omen, 
and children pouring out to the white tents pitched in the plain, 
where the lamas have conveyed the statues of their gods, and are 
making supplications to them. It is not at all unlikely that our 
presence is the cause of these measures of religious prophylaxy, 
for fear that we may have cast a spell upon the ground we have 
trodden. A short time ago, we saw the Thibetans pass our 
baggage over the fire so as to purify it before they put it on their 
shoulders, whilst on another occasion the men who were at work 
in the fields we went through snatched up a handful of" earth — 
like Marius predicting the birth of the Gracchi — and, throwing 
it into the air, mumbled a form of prayer to disinfect the soil. 

All the devout people of Tchangka are astir and on their way 
to the tents, and a horse is led carrying six packets of very long 
prayers pressed tight between slabs of wood and fastened with 
strips of leather. Then comes a fat lama of high rank, riding at 
his ease upon a mule led by two lamas bareheaded, who hold 
the reins in one hand, whilst with the other they turn their 
prayer mills. Behind them come the bearers of drums and 
cymbals, and last of all a crowd of clerical and lay worshipers, 
marching cheerfully along. All the lamas of Tchangka and their 
flocks have turned out to avert the misfortune which our pre- 
sence is calculated to bring upon the valley. It appears that the 
divinity had been entreated for some little time past to send rain, 
and that these prayers were just about being answered when we 



382 ACROSS THIBET. 

arrived. As strangers could not be other tlian hostile, the lamas, 
had no difficulty in persuading the faithful that the clouds would 
disperse without sending down any rain unless they were kept 
back by fervent prayers. So the lamas of Tchangka are said to 
be unfavorably disposed toward us, the more so as they are 
"reds," that is to say, they have not accepted the Tsongkapa 
reform, the partisans of which are distinguished by their yellow 
headgear. These " reds " were much annoyed at the receipt of 
the letters from Lhassa, recommending us to be well received, 
for the theocracy of Lhassa is " yellow," and the lamas of the old 
school say that we shall be the cause of terrible drought, and 
they will not contribute for their part to the transport of our 
baggage. They also decline to lend us any yaks, so that the 
chiefs of the neighboring tribes have to do all the work. 

A certain antagonism always reigns between the lay and the 
religious chiefs, but the latter are not always the richer. 

The lama house of Tchangka owns a good part of the valle}^? 
and in course of time it will be in possession of the whole, the 
lamas being the only people who have any capital in hand, so 
that they lend money to the poor, and enrich themselves by usury. 
A time arrives when the debtors are unable to pay, and then 
they surrender their land and become in reality serfs attached to 
the glebe. From that time they become themselves the property 
of the lama house, which furnishes them with implements, seed, 
and manure to cultivate the soil, and they make over the harvest 
to their new masters, their pay consisting of enough flour to keep 
them from starvation during the winter. 

These red lamas are not all given up to celibacy or to a life 
devoid of worldly pleasures, for, when tired of the cloister, 
they are at liberty to resume a lay existence, on condition of 
abandoning to the community the endowment they paid for 
admission. In the same way, if, once more tired of ordinary 
life, he knocks a second time at the door of the monastery, he 
will be admitted if he is prepared to make a second payment. 
Whenever a property is for sale, these lamas buy it ; when, there- 
fore, they pray for rain, they are really praying for themselves. 



THE LAMAS AS CAPITALISTS. 



383 



It is to be supposed that in tliis case tlieir prayers are answered, 
or that we are not such very dreadful people, for there is a fall of 
snow and rain during the night. This ought to put the lamas 
and their serfs in a good humor, but the former are most splenetic, 
and continue to look at us askance. One of them distinguishes 
himself by the persistency with which he drives off the inquisi- 




DANCEKS AT TCHANGKA. 



tive people who come to look at us. He is a long, thin sort of 
fellow, emaciated, no doubt, by constant privations, who, with his 
long eagle-like nose, his hollow cheeks, and sharp chin with its 
tuft of hair, has anything but a taking appearance. From time 
to time he makes a dash into our inclosure, scolds the inquisitive 
people who have collected, and drives them off to the door, rais- 
ing his arms as a shepherd does when driving a flock of sheep. 
He, at all events, seems to be a thorough-paced bachelor, judging 
by the unceremonious way in which he treats the women. 

(Tune 16. — The rain comes down in torrents, but that does not 
damp the ardor with which these lamas turn their prayer mills 



384 ACROSS THIBET. 

as they marcli behind us, as if they wished to purify the soil w& 
have been treading. The people, however, escort us a little way, 
and the garrison, thanking us for our presents, wish us a pleas- 
ant journey. As we descend the valley, which gradually nar- 
rows, we meet numerous caravans of yaks conveying tea, and at 
Poula we obtain a relay after a march of sixty lis, or a little over 
eleven miles, which would show that the distance of the li is not 
definitely settled, or that the Chinese have, for some reason, 
exaggerated the length of the stage. Thinking eleven miles a 
very short journey for people in so much of a hurry, we do not 
allow ourselves to be tempted by the meal of pork, fish, and 
pechke (a kind of cabbage) which is served us in a white tent,, 
and insist upon pushing on to Kouchou, as had been arranged 
before the start. But it seems as if there Avas no intention of 
keeping faith Avith us, and, after some discussion, the chief of the 
lamas and the civil chief of the district arrive. They tell us that 
we cannot start till to-morrow, and that we must await the re- 
turn of the yaks, which have gone on to Tchangka with bales of 
tea. 

We ask if these persons have received orders, and the man- 
darin's men declare that either last night or early this morning 
they were advised of our arrival and told to keep yaks for our 
use. As we are in possession of an enormous sealed document, 
authorizing us to requisition beasts of burden in the name of the 
Emperor of China, we protest, and request the white-buttoned 
mandarin, who has escorted us from Dotou to Tchangka, to speak 
on our behalf, telling him that he was a powerful chief and that 
the Thibetans would obey him at once. But he says that they 
are not under his jurisdiction, and goes on smoking his pipe in 
an unconcerned sort of way. So we take the matter into our 
own hands, and by dint of parleying, discussing, threatening, and 
promising, get what we want, and go to pass the night at Kou- 
chou, a military post in the hollow of a small valley. The road 
to it is through woods and over a pass 12,400 feet high, whence 
we can distinguish to the west a white chain which the natives 
call Dameloune, so far as we can understand them. While eat- 



FROM TGHANGEA TO KOUCHOU. 



385 



iug n, good-sized omelette with bacon, about 10 p. m., we learn 
from the commander of this fort that in two days' time we shall 
be on the territory of Ba-Tang, and that our arrival has been 
looked forward to very eagerly, 

Jime 17. — The road we follow is that of the pilgrims, and it 
is marked by numerous obos with large quantities of engraved 
prayers. We also notice on 
the obos and on the top of 
the chapels, small columns 
of wood, surmounted by 
balls, by crescents, or other 
roughly carved ornaments, 
but all done in exactly the 
same way. Each of these 
columns has twelve hollo^v 
rings, and this figure twelve, 
which is constantly recurr- 
ing, must tally with some 
religious or superstitious 
fancy. We asked explan- 
ations as to this from com- 
petent persons, but were 
unable to get any. I can 
only guess, therefore, that it 
has something to do with the Thibetan cycle of twelve years. 

Certain authors have stated that Lhassa is the resort of count- 
less pilgrims. I do not know upon what they base their state- 
ments, but we met very few, and there must be some mistake, 
unless, indeed, the population in the south of Thibet and to the 
north of the Himalayas is very dense, and so devout that it sup- 
plies the great bulk of the pilgrims. 

The tea trade between China and Thibet is very important, 
the transport being effected chieily by the road from Tatsien-Lou 
to Lhassa, by way of Tsamda. The relays of yaks are settled by 
custom, each village contributing its share to the conveyance of 
the tea, and I'eceiving a fixed contribution, generally in kind. 




jfciSES!^^!. 



A BUDDHIST CHAPEL. 



386 ACROSS THIBET. 

Three hours after leaving Kouchou we get a relay at Lein- 
diinne, where we arrive by way of cultivated valleys and planta- 
tions of oak and pine, the people appearing to be better off in 
every way than those in the districts we have been passing 
through. Some of the people are even fat, and the women of a 
more civilized type — both as regards appearance and dress — 
than the Thibetans. Their clothes are of coarse cloth, sometimes 
red, sometimes striped in the Thibetan colors of green, red, and 
yellow. In the sunlight this blending of colors produces a very 
striking effect, reminding one of Andalusia. 

After leaving Leindlinne the route branches off to Ba-Taug 
and Atentze, the time of a journey to the latter place being, 
according to the Chinese soldiers, four days ; whilst from Atentze 
to Yunnan-Fou it would take a month. But the road is so bad 
that it can only be done on foot, and the best account of this 
region is to be found in the work of the French missionaries Des- 
godins and Biet. 

Although the valleys are well cultivated, the crops are not 
sufficient to feed the military post at Leindlinne, which is obliged 
to get its supplies from Atentze ; and although the post is with- 
in a two days' march of Ba-Tang, nothing is bought there, prices 
being too high. Whilst we are gossiping we see some splendid 
mules, richly caparisoned, and carrying bales of tea, being driven 
by ; they belong, we are told, to the Tale Lama in person, who 
sends them round with tea every year to the different lama 
houses. We notice that the houses in this village present some 
effort at decoration, in the shape of corbels and patterns on the 
window-shutters ; whilst, to judge by the large quantity of mania 
(engraved prayers) freshly painted in bright colors, this must be 
a land of sanctification. We cannot, however, ascertain whether 
the peasants pick up a handful of soil and throw it into the air 
as we pass from a religious motive, or because we are supposed 
to bring them ill-luck. 

During the night it snows and rains ; and as the rain is still 
falling at dawn, our Chinese soldiers give us another proof of 
their reluctance to travel in the wet. These men are quite use- 




^ 









/ 1 



J i( / 



\V' 








THE KIN-CHA KIAIS'G. 



ANARCHY. 



389 



less, their authority over the Thibetans being nil ; and all they 
can do is to smoke their pipes and say " lo, lo." The whole 
country appears to be in a state of anarchy, and the native 
chiefs are not obeyed by their subjects. 

It is eleven o'clock before we descend the valley with our 
baggage, and after an hour's march the animals are unloaded, 
and fresh disputes begin between men of different tribes. 

Whilst the natives are quarreling over our baggage, we go to 
look at one of the water mills at the edge of a stream. It is like 




BA-TANG : VIEW PROM THE ROOFS. 



all the mills in Asia, the water being supplied through the hol- 
low trunk of a tree, with an undershot wheel setting the mill- 
stone in motion. In the center of the upper stone is a hole, 
through which the grains drop into a bag made of goatskin, 
held in its place by a rope tied to the wall. 

After an hour and a half's talk the population consent to 
carry our baggage to the next relay, only two miles off ; and 
from there, after fresh disputes, we arrive at Kountsetinne. 
Having been driven out of the inn of the place — where we had 



390 



ACROSS THIBET. 



intended passing tlie night— by its filthiness, we pitch our tent 
in the courtyard, bad as the weather is. 

I need not repeat my description of these filthy Chinese inns, 
which are so disgusting that those of Thibet seem palaces in 




CHINESE FORT AT BA-TAJ4G. 



comparison. It appears that this particular one is intended for 
the accommodation of the mandarins and soldiers on the march, 
and the keeper of it is very much disappointed at our leaving it, 
as he has been told that we paid liberally when we were well 
satisfied. However, we prefer to remain where we are, and 



THE BLUE BIVEB. 391 

whilst the Thibetan and Chinese chiefs are sitting quietly smok- 
ing their pipes and drinking their tea under cover from the rain, 
the two principal ones hurriedly mount their horses and gallop 
oft* with guns and swords. It appears that, a few hundred yards 
from the village, at the foot of the gorge, some brigands, who had 
come down from the mountain, have taken by surprise the Thi- 
l^etans who were conveying our baggage, and seized six horses. 
In order to execute this more easily, the brigands allowed the 
Inilk of the escort to pass, and only attacked the rearguard. Our 
" white button " says that it will be useless to pursue them, as 
they have got well away to the mountain ; and when I ask him 
if this is a frequent occurrence, he says that it is, the mountain 
being peopled by incorrigible savages. 

There are heavy showers all night ; and when we start in the 
morning, the descent from the inn^ — which is at an altitude of 
about 8000 feet — begins almost at once, and we are soon amongst 
the clematis, the syringas, the Jasmine, and the eglantines, with 
cultivated fields, and nuts nearly ripe. Still descending, we find 
ripe barley at 5400 feet ; whilst about 1000 feet below the 
people are gathering in the harvest. At 4000 feet the harvest 
has already been got in, and we are able to give our horses fresh 
straw. The people inhabiting this slope of the mountain are 
rather fierce, and do not obe}^ their chiefs better than those on 
the other side ; but the dress is gradually being modified under 
the influence of Chinese fashions, and the native chiefs have the 
hair cropped close upon the front of the head, like the manda- 
rins of the conquering nation. The people, too, do not wear the 
same sort of shoes as the Thibetans, the children having their 
feet in sandals, which are kept on by strips of leather passed be- 
tween the toes and fastened round the heel. 

As we follow a rather awkward path in the pouring rain, we 
suddenly come on a large river, in a valley nearly half a mile 
wide. This is the Kin-Cha Kiang, the great Blue River ; but we 
cannot keep pace with its rapid current, for this river — the Yang- 
tze-Kiang of the East — rolls its turbid flood at a tremendous pace 
over rocks and boulders, as if eager to bury its waters in the 



392 ACBOSS THIBET. 

deeps of the ocean. Leaving the river bank again, we get upon 
a more easy route, and, galloping along past eglantine trees, 
reach a delta formed by the Chisougoune as it emerges from the 
mountain. We cross it by a bridge which does not seem any 
too safe ; and as we do so, we hear shots being fired from the 
high rocks on the other side. This is a salute from men who 
have been posted up there to keep a lookout for the brigands 
who infest the country, and they have received orders from the 
Chinese mandarin at Ba-Tang to look after us. 

A little further on we pass a chapel built in the form of a 
triumphal arch, and thence we descend to the banks of the Yang- 
tze-Kiang, the bed of which is so much broader at this spot that 
it can be crossed in a large, flat-bottomed boat, 50 feet long by 
nearly 9 feet in beam. This boat, which is of deal secured with 
iron clamps, is rowed by two women and two men, all of mixed 
blood, with a long-tailed Chinaman steering. The river is about 
a furlong broad at the point where we cross it ; and as we are 
being rowed across, we cannot but think of the Frenchmen who 
have done so before us, and who have scarcely had justice ren- 
dered them. Our countrymen are about the only people who 
have had the good fortune to visit Thibet since it has been closed 
against Europeans. First of all, there came Fathers Hue and Ga- 
bet, whose daring voyage will not have been forgotten, and who 
have been rather harshly criticised. They have been blamed for 
not having mentioned chains of mountains which the state of the 
atmosphere doubtless prevented them from seeing, and they have 
been laughed at for describing as a broad river what those who 
saw it thirty years afterward found to be only a small one. But 
their critics seem to forget under what disadvantages they — the 
first Europeans to come into the country — labored, and I con- 
sider that Fathers Hue and Gabet effected the most daring and 
interesting of journeys with little in the way of resources except 
their own will and energy. 

Since leaving Tchangka we have been upon what may be de- 
scribed as French soil, for Father Renou penetrated into Thibet, 
and got together the materials for a dictionary which may be 




GENERAL VIEW OF BA-TANG. 



FRENCHMEN IN THIBET. 395 

compared to tliat of Csoma, the learned Hungarian, whose work 
he completed, thus opening the country to his successors by en- 
abling them to study the language. Then came Fathers Fage, 
Desgodins, and Thomine, who penetrated as far as Tchamdo, and 
many others whose names should be familiar to all Europeans. 
These martyrs of civilization opened up the way for explorers, 
and the illustrious Prjevalsky, when traveling in Thibet, only 
followed a portion of Father Hue's route ; whilst the Englishmen, 
Gill and Mesny, marched in the track of our missionaries, and 
Count Bela Szehechinyi, accompanied by Loczi and Kreitner, 
endeavored to reach Lhassa. He had every possible document 
and letter of introduction ; he was escorted by Chinese manda- 
rins, and possessed a considerable fortune ; but he could not get 
beyond Ba-Tang, and returned through the Yunnan. Cooper, 
having attempted to divei'ge from the beaten track of the mis- 
sionaries, was murdered ; whilst Baber merely followed the I'oute 
they had mapped out, a good pai't of the information which his 
books contain being facts told by members of the Thibet Mis- 
sion. Not a single European coming from the East has been 
able to get as far as the tomb of Father Renou, but from the vil- 
lage where we disembark the route has been fully described 
as far as Tatsien-Lou by Father Desgodins, who is still hale 
and hearty. We shall be passing several spots where French 
blood has flowed with a disinterestedness not sufficiently ad- 
mired, and as we shall be within a few miles of the spot where 
Father Brieux met with a cruel death, we regret not being nu- 
merous or well-armed enough to strike terror into the men who 
murdered him. 

,The great chief whom Liangtay, the paymaster-general at 
Ba-Tang, has sent to meet us is a Doungane, named Lichklinf an ; 
and this Mussulman, Avho has regular features, is much more 
martial in appearance than his compatriots. Like most of his 
coreligionists, he thinks that his chief duty is to invoke iVllah 
and abstain from eating pork in a country where it is difficult to 
get any other sort of meat, there being no mutton or yak-flesh 
except in places like Tatsien-Lou, where there are enough Mus- 



396 ACBOSS THIBET. 

sulmans to have their own slaughterhouse. He, however, is 
very regular in his ablutions, and his son, who has come with 
him, is also very natty in appearance. The father, who has the 
post of inspector of the troops, with a salary of about five 
pounds a month, has come to look through the accounts and 
satisfy himself that the garrison is in good trim. 

After having drunk several cups of the fermented barley called 
tchang, and having got " well on," he had the fifteen rufiians with 
their cunning and degraded cast of countenance drawn up in 
line, and proceeded to hold a court of justice in the open air. A 
bench was brought out and placed at the door of the barracks, 
covered with red cloth. When he had taken his seat the cap- 
tain of the archers sat on a stool beside him, whilst the soldiers 
were in a line to the left. The culprits were then brought for- 
ward, the first oft'ender being a man who had been slandering 
others, including the wife of the captain. His calumnies had 
led to domestic unhappiness. The inspector in a voice of thun- 
der shouts, " On your knees, sir," and down the wretch goes. 
Then the other soldiers are bidden to kneel and, after a few 
seconds, to get up again. The inspector eventually orders the 
culprit to be given six blows on the right cheek, and after a 
moment's hesitation three men come out from the ranks, two of 
them seizing him by the arms, whilst the other catches him by 
the pigtail and hits him six times on the cheek with a half -closed 
fist. As the punishment is being administered, the inspector 
gets more and more excited, positively howling at last, " Hit him 
six times on the mouth ; that is where he gave offense." The 
punishment having been administered, the judge bids the sol- 
diers be off ; and they, having made a military salute to their 
chief, withdraw, the culprit coming up in turn and, with forehead 
touching the ground, thanking him sincerely for his goodness. 
The crowed disperses, the public appearing to be but little im- 
pressed by this scene, whilst the soldiers are scarcely able to re- 
strain a smile, and the sufferer indulges in a grin. 

In order to dissipate the painful impression which this affair 
has created, the inspector got up an entertainment for the even- 



AN ORQIE. 



397 



ino-, tlie whole of the women in the garrison being collected in 
the largest room of the place. Tchang was distributed freely, 
^nd the ladies sang and danced. As we had got down to a level of 




WOMEN AT BA-TANG. 



3300 feet the heat was rather trying, and the inspector, as drunk 
as Silenus, presided over i\efete half -naked, seated on a platform 
in the posture of an idol. The dancing women as well as the 
singers were invited to partake of the drink, and the orgie lasted 
the best part of the night. 

Such is a glimpse of the military customs of the Chinese in 



398 



ACROSS THIBET. 



Thibet. I do uot know how the army conducts itself at Pekin^. 
but I may safely say that from Kuldja to the Red River we saw 
nothing bearing the faintest resemblance to disciplined troops, 
or having any semblance of a feeling of duty, whilst on many oc- 




LAMAS AT BA-TANG. 



casions we had proofs of cowardice. These men are only plucky 
when they are many against a few, and all they can do is to as- 
sassinate unarmed missionaries and isolated travelers. 

A few miles beyond Tchoupalongue, on the route to Ba-Tang, 
we noticed a house at the entrance of a gorge, and learned that 
it was here Father Brieux was massacred, at the instigation of 
the lamas and the Chinese. It seemed as if the Liangtay was 
anxious to persuade us of the insecurity of this region, for we 
were greeted by salvos of musketry fired from the tops of the 
rocks, and a little further on were accosted by a troop of ill- 



AT BA-TANG. B99 

looking rascals, ^vho seized our horses' reins and put out their 
hands for something in return for their salutes. Needless to 
say that we showed them our whips and did not give them a 
farthing. 

No doubt these military demonstrations are intended to show 
that we are beino; well looked after. The authorities must be 
aware that we have heard of the murder of our compatriot Father 
Bi'ieux, and think that we may have been sent to make an inquiry 
into that affair. Then, again, the dispersal of the Christian com- 
munity of Ba-Tang, the devastation of their chapel, and the pillage 
of their houses, are still more recent, dating only from 1887. It 
is known that the Thibet Mission addressed a claim to the 
Tson2:li-Yamen throuo-h the French Minister — a claim which the 
Chinese Grovernment promised to satisfy, of course, but equally 
of course did not do so. The Liangtay is aware how reprehensi- 
ble the proceedings of the Chinese authorities are, and how much 
they deserve punishment, and public rumoi* has it that the 
object of our Journey is to exact the reparation which is due, 
and to reestablish the Christians in possession of their lands. 

When we reach Ba-Tang, situated in a pretty valley rich with 
the harvest, we are treated as persons of distinction ; honor is 
paid to IIS, and we are lodged in the newly built Kouen-Kan, 
which is reserved for mandarins of high rank. The lamas, how- 
ever, avoid us in the streets by running back or taking refuge 
inside the houses ; and when we make our way toward the lama 
house, with its high walls, surmounted by a brilliant dome, the 
priests hasten to close the massive door, as if they were afraid of 
our penetrating into this so-called temple of wisdom, which is 
but a refuge for a set of good-for-nothings. 

JVe paid several visits to the sites of the houses which were 
the legal property of the missionaries, and found the whole of 
them in ruins like the chapel, between the walls of which the 
barley was sprouting. For the third season the Thibetans were 
about to reap the harvest in the fields of the mission without 
the Chinese authorities intervening, and one could not but ask 
w^hat sort of a government this is to which European Powers 



400 ACROSS THIBET. 

appeal for redress, and witli wliicli they sign treaties only ob- 
served on one side. It is difficult to understand why we treat 
as a serious factor the Emperor of China, who is not obeyed — 
either because he does not wish to be, or because he has not the 
power to enforce his will. A power which is incapable of pro- 
tecting anyone, or of applying the most insignificant rules of 
police, does not deserve the name of a government, and I cannot 
understand the course taken by the nations of Europe. 

Up to the present, murderers and fire-raisers have been going 
about here at Ba-Tang with perfect impunity ; and yet the pres- 
ence of a handful of well-armed men like ourselves suffices to 
make them feel uneasy. 

Is it true that on the occasion of the Emperor's marriage all 
the diplomatists, with the exception of the Russian — though they 
do not, as a rule, agree amongst one another — asked to be allowed 
to offer their congratulations to the Emperor, and were refused ? 
Is it true that when they attempted to make him presents, these 
presents were unceremoniously refused ? Is it true that, after 
these rebuffs, they accepted the dinner which was contemptu- 
ously offered them ? Is it true that they came in full dress, and 
were received by the chief of the Tsong-li-Yamen in undress, 
and in the room' where all the tributary chiefs were massed 
together ? Is it true that this latter fact is in the East — and 
in China more particularly — regarded as a peculiar display of 
disdain, which was not challenged as it should have been ? 

Perhaps I may have been misinformed, and for my own part 
I believe that our diplomatists are men of energy and prudence, 
careful of their country's interests, and of the strict observance of 
the Tientsin Treaty ; and if there are a great many matters still 
in suspense, it is simply because they cannot do everything at once. 

It was to save them the trouble of reading a long report, and 
in order not to add to the number of cases still hung up, that we 
did not send them an official complaint against the mandarin of 
Tatsien-Lou, who behaved to us like a good Chinaman, and who^ 
owing to this, obtained his appointment to the post which he 
occupied temporarily. 




ENTKAXCE TO THE TATSIEX-LOU VALLEY, 



THE FRENCH MISSION ABIE'S AT TATSIEN-LOU. 403 

At first we liad some little cliffereDces at Ba-Tang with Liangtay, 
who insisted upon our showing him the papers we had asked for 
from Pekin, and which, as it appears, were sent to us through the 
Russian Consul at Kashgar. But when we explained to him 
that, having been sent by this roundabout route, they must have 
gone astray, he appeared to be convinced that we had none, 
and let us go on without them. 

On the 24th of June we reached Tatsien-Lou, where we were 
very cordially welcomed by Monsignore Biet, Fathers Dejean, 
Giraudot, etc., and by an English collector, Mr. Pratt, who will 
be able to confirm the statement that the missionaries rendered 
him every possible service without asking him what his religious 
creed was, any more than they asked as to ours. Mr. Pratt will 
be able also to say that the mandarin of Tatsien-Lou endeavored 
to foment an attack upon us, under the grotesque pretense that 
we wanted to steal the treasures of the town. 

I must, however, relate the facts of the case in some detail. 
Let me premise by stating that the Tatsien-Lou missionaries 
had for the past two years been promised passports authorizing 
them to return to Ba-Tang ; but nothing had ever been done. So 
Monsignore Biet thought it as well to take advantage of our 
presence to open fresh negotiations with the mandarins of 
Fou Tchao Kong, and with the Liangtay of Ba-Tang, Ouang Kia 
Yong, the latter being Just now at Tatsien-Lou, on his way to 
join his post. A council, at which we were all present, Avas held, 
and the mandarins promised the missionaries their passports, 
while the new treasurer undertook to let them go with him on 
the seventeenth day of the moon. He even asked us for a re- 
volver^ in order that he might be able to intimidate the Thibetans ; 
and he was promised one. The engagements entered into by the 
mandarins were not, of course, meant to be kept, and on the 
morning of the fifteenth day of the moon we were officially in- 
formed that Ouang Kia Yong would start the next day — that 
is to say, twenty-four hours sooner than had been agreed, and 
that there was no sign of any passport. 

In the afternoon we sent Dedeken, in European dress, with 



404 ACBOSS THIBET. 

tlie revolver tliat had been promised, and told liim to get wliat 
informatiou lie could. He went to the door of tlie tribunal and 
handed in our cards, according to usage, and was told that the 




FRENCH MISSIONARIES. 



authorities were at table ; so he was shown into an anteroom 
and kept waiting five hours, during which time, as the room was 
only divided from that in which the meal was being served by a 



oc 



A DIFFICULTY WITH THE MANDARIN. 405 

thin partition, lie could hear the Chinese insulting France and 
the other European countries, the voice of the Mandarin Ouang 
Kia Yong being the loudest, so anxious was he that his insults 
should reach Father Dedeken's ears. 

The festival lasted till nightfall, and then Tchao Kong, the 
mandarin of Tatsien-Lou, had the drum beaten tkrough the town, 
and the crier was told to call out a man from each house, as the 
tribunal was in danger from the Europeans. So the people 
came rushing out — some armed with swords, others with bludg- 
eons, and all ^vith lanterns and umbrellas, for it was raining, 
fortunately, and this sufficed to damp their ardor. We were un- 
aware of all this, but, being uneasy as to the situation of our com- 
panion, sent two ai'med men to ask him to return ; Father Dede- 
ken being much surprised when he got outside to find the 
approaches to the Yamen blocked up by a large crowd. Fol- 
lowed by five or six hundred people, and reaching the bridge 
across the stream, it suddenly occurred to him how likely they 
would be to thi^ow him in ; he stopped, and in a loud tone enjoined 
them not to follow him any further. After a moment's hesita- 
tion the crowd turned back, and he was able to rejoin us in 
safety. 

These are the usual tactics of the mandarins for brinoins: 
about a massacre of Europeans, but they failed in this case for 
several reasons — one being that the population of Tatsien-Lou 
is chiefly composed of merchants, and is therefore of a peaceable 
disposition, whilst another was that the military chief, who 
is a Mussulman, and is on good terms ^vith the missionaries, 
refused the 200 soldiers asked for. In the third place the 
Thibet&n king would not move, out of antipathy to the 
Chinese. 

The next day the Liangtay, Ouang Kia Yong, started for 
Ba-Taug by a roundabout route ; whilst the people of the Kuiu- 
leangfou went about the bazaar insulting us, and saying that we 
were to be chained up and driven out like dogs, the missionaries 
sharing the same fate. The second man of the Kuinleaugfou, 
one Lioupin, said that the Europeans must be killed, that he 



406 ACROSS THIBET. 

himself had massacred some at Tchong King, and that it was not 
a difficult matter. This, of course, was meant to frighten us. 

The mandarin, finding that he had not attained his object, 
after waiting three or four days, sent a confidential adviser to us 
with apologies at the bishop's house. The messenger, who was 
attired in full dress, had his master's card in his hand, and said 
that the latter acknowledged himself to be solely responsible, 
but that action had been taken, by mistake, without his know- 
ledge. Our reply was that we could only accept these apologies 
when the passports had been issued to the missionaries as a proof 
of his repentance being sincere. The mandarin, however, had 
not done with us yet, for, having arranged that some things 
should be stolen from us a few days after, he then pretended to 
take action against the culprits, when, in the presence of a 
large audience and by means of false witnesses and impudent 
falsehoods, he sought to discredit us. Failing violence, he re- 
sorted to calumny. We lodged a complaint against him with 
his superior at Tcheng-toufou ; but only for the form of the thing. 
And our complaint bore the usual fruit ; that is to say, he was 
promoted after we had gone. 

This is a good sample of the Chinese administration to which 
European Governments appeal for justice, and to which they 
look for loyal conduct. To do so is sheer waste of time, for these 
people are cowards and are moved solely by fear. As I write 
these lines the war vessels of European Powers are collected in 
Chinese waters, and are awaiting the result of the negotiations 
of their diplomatists with the Chinese, and it is easy to predict 
what the outcome of all this will be. The mandarins will apolo- 
gize and pay an indemnity, they will make certain custom-house 
concessions, and a few ruffians who ought to have been executed 
long ago will have their heads cut oif. And so the comedy will 
end, whilst the mandarins are congratulated by their superiors 
and promoted, the people being told that the Europeans are 
always ready to sell their lives for money, and that they make 
threats which they never carry out. 

We stayed more than a month at Tatsien-Lou to recruit our 



SENDING HOME OUR COLLECTIONS. 407 

strength before going on to Touquin. Tliat we were able to 
cany out this last part of our programme is due to the kindness 
of our compatriots. 

During our journey we had formed several collections intended 
for French museums, and at Tatsien-Lou they had been consider- 
ably augmented by purchases which our fellow-countrymen had 
put us in the way of making. Had it been necessary to convey 
all this through Tonquin, it is doubtful whether we should ever 
have got through, but, fortunately for us, Mr. Pratt, the well- 
known English naturalist, offered to take charge of our baggage 
until he reached the first French consulate, which, as we calcu- 
lated, would be at Han Keou, whilst we sent our photographs 
through the English consul at Tchong King, whose name I re- 
gret not having by me, so that I might publicly thank him. 
Photographs and collections alike reached Europe in good condi- 
tion, and have since been exhibited in the Paris Museum of 
Natural History, where they will at present remain. Mr. Pratt 
was obliged to have our packages carried for a month overland, 
and then to purchase Junks and go down the Yang-tze-Kiang as 
far as Shanghai, for our consul at Han Keou being absent, Mr. 
Pratt was kind enough to go on with them. At Shanghai he 
went to M. Wagner, the French consul, who declined to have 
anything to do Avith the matter, and he then applied to the pro- 
curator of the foreign missions, who saw them on board the 
steamer for Marseilles. Thanks to Mr. Pratt, we knew that the 
fruits of our long journey were as safe as the perils of navigation 
on the Yang-tze-Kiang admitted, and so we felt that we could 
make for Tonquin without any encumbrances. We should have 
left T&tsien-Lou sooner, but we heard on the 13th of July that 
some Europeans, who had started from Sinig-fou, were coming. 
However, after vainly waiting a Aveek for them, we left by the 
route which Baber, the English traveler, had followed. It was 
the 28th of July when we bade good-by to the members of the 
Thibet Mission, whom we cannot thank too much for their cor- 
dial hospitality, and from whom travelers who may be brought 
into this region by the passion for research are sure of receiving 



408 ACROSS THIBET. 

disinterested assistance, valuable information, and advice dictated 
by consummate prudence and experience. Mr. Pratt, I am quite 
sure, is of the same opinion, as well as Mr. Rockhill, the 
American diplomatist, who made such a daring journey from the 
Koukou-Xor to the Tatsien-Lou, by way of Jyekounda. 

It is with a heavy heart that we say good-by to our fellow- 
countrymen, wishing them all success in their arduous enterj)rise. 
We determine to note carefully the residences of the other 
missionaries which we shall pass on the way, as being so many 
oases in the vast desolation of China. When we leave Tatsien- 
Lou we leave Thibet, and from the very first stage the eye 
wanders over moist valleys inhabited by a very dense popula- 
tion which utilizes, every handful of vegetable soil, and even 
manages to grow a few heads of corn in the corners of rocks, 
and upon the stony sides of the mountains. Village succeeds 
village Avith painful sameness. The pagodas are half to pieces, 
and as you enter the village you see figures of gods painted in 
bright colors but crumbling to pieces, and then comes a sort of 
triumphal arch on which are inscribed moral phrases like those 
of schoolchilclren's copy books. The streets are infested by 
yelping curs and dirty pigs wallowing in the nnid ; by children 
as dirty as the animals ; by women with legs the size of a chair 
rail, and feet like snufi: boxes, and by porters or mules carrying 
heavy loads. The inns are horrible dens impregnated with the 
most varied odors, that of opium not being the least un^^leasant. 
These inns have the most pompous names, such as the " Polar 
Star," the Chinese having a great weakness for the four cardinal 
points. The staple articles of food are rice and pork, and eggs 
and chickens are to be had in the \dllages ; omelettes being made 
with the former, and soup with the latter. 

We cannot but be struck by the economy of the people, their 
parsimony, their avarice, their art in turning everything, yes, 
literally everything, to account. Thus they make lamp wicks 
out of the heart of a certain kind of rush, and they also use this 
for cupping. They have a way of supplying what is wanting in 
the products of industry with a skill of hand and a patience 



CHINESE INNS. 411 

"beyond all belief, and if tliey did not smoke they would not 
indulge in a single superfluity. It might even be argued that 
the opium smoker does not indulge in a superfluity, as he eats 
and drinks less than the non-smoker. In this land of hunger, 
where the struggle for existence I'enders people so ferocious and 
pitiless, the essential thing is to keep body and soul together, 
and I have seen men dropping from inanition on the road^vay, 
and the Chinese stepping over them without offering to give 
them assistance. The famishing wretch might die, and his body 
would lie there without anyone taking notice of it. 

In the regions we traversed before reaching Yunnan, we did 
not see any display of the feeling which certain people call 
altruism. In these populous regions of the Setchouen no one has 
time to think of others, the difiiculty of getting a bare sub- 
sistence being so great that it seems to have hardened men's 
hearts toward their fellow-men. 

Our carriers are poor wretches who have been recruited 
specially for the work, and have scarcely a rag upon their bodies. 
They feed on dried biscuits, Indian corn cooked in oil, and what 
rice is to be had in inns on the roadside. But they all have 
their opium pipe, and when the imperious need for the drug 
begins to make itself felt, they quicken their steps so as to reach 
the inn where the contractor is awaiting them with the opium, 
which constitutes the bulk of their pay. These inns, in which 
we try to sleep, are, however, so infested with vermin, that we 
cannot,,,as a rule, close our eyes ; so we even look back with 
regret upon those of Thibet, which at the time seemed so revolt- 
ing. We are much struck by the men who carry enormous loads 
of tea over very steep paths. It appears that these men belong 
to families in which this business is hei'editary, and that they 
form a corporation. 

At Foulin, we quit the highroad, which goes on east, and 
make our way toward the Yunnan over the highlands of the 
Tienchan. On the road we come upon Chinese towns and vil- 
lages formed chiefly of emigrants from the Setchouen, the moun- 
tain being inhabited by the Lolos, a tall race of men with long 



412 



AGB08S THIBET. 



feet, very energetic aud warlike, and iuspiriug great terror among 
the Chinese, whom they rob whenever they get the chance. 

The Chinese whom we encounter in this district appear to be 
a most wretched set of beings, very small, eaten up with fever. 




and disfigured by enormous goiters. They are, as a rule, 
inoffensive, but we meet with occasional difficulties in the popu- 
lous places, the inhabitants sometimes insulting us, and throwing 
stones at the doors of the inn where we are lod2:ing, although. 




THE BED RIVER. 



ON FRENCH SOIL. 415 

Oil these occasions, the mandarins tell iis that we shall be in 
safety within the precincts of their tribunal. We inform the 
crowd that, if one of them dares to lay hands on us, we shall 
shoot him, while the mandarins are told that we shall hold them 
responsible for the bloodshed. This has the desired effect, and 
it is the same with the future bachelors of letters whom we meet 
on the road, this being the period for examinations, for although 
they are often more numerous than we are, and apply very 
insulting expressions to us, we never hesitate to use our sticks, 
and keep them in respect. We would rather die than let our- 
selves be insulted ; and it was by acting upon this feeling at all 
risks that we were able to go along the banks of the Red River, 
after a halt at Yunnan Fou and another at Mougtzeu, where our 
consul, M. Leduc, and the Europeans employed in the custom- 
house received us very cordially. 

We embarked upon the Red River, which was so dark as well 
to deserve its name, on the 22d of September, having, since we 
left the frontier of Siberia, traveled nearly 3750 miles either on 
foot or on horseback, so that it will be readily understood how 
delighted we were to stretch ourselves on the junk Avhich M. 
Jauson, the Danish telegraph engineer, had engaged for us. On 
the evening of that day we were at the post of Bac-Sat, on 
French soil, and on the 25tli at Laokai, where M. Laroze gave us 
a very friendly reception, and where we changed our junk. This 
was but the prelude to many more such receptions during our 
progress through the colony, whilst at Hanoi itself M. Raoiil 
Bonnal and General Bichat were most cordial, as indeed was the 
whole population of Tonquin, to whom we here teuder our sincere 
thanks. If we were struck by the beauty of the Red River, not 
less so were we by the comfort and animation of Hanoi, whilst 
from what we saw of the delta, of the wealth of vegetation, and 
of the extreme fertility of an inexhaustible soil, we could only 
conclude that this is a colony out of which a great deal may be 
made. All that is needed is that an agreement should be come 
to as to this child, whose coming was rather unexpected, and upset 
certain calculations and plans ; but he, I believe, has life in him. 



416 



ACROSS THIBET. 



and will make his way in the world if he is taken proper care 
of. 

Everyone is aware that it is easier and quicker to get back 
from Tonquin by sea than to traverse the ancient continent of 




LAOKAI. 



Asia, in order to get to it. For the return voyage we embarked 
at Haiphong, and so by Hong-Kong to Marseilles. From Hong- 
Kong we sent our Chinaman back to his native land ; he was to 
return in company with some Belgian missionaries. That vain 



COI^CL USION. 



417 



little fellow Abdullah, who has some good qualities all the same, 
left us at Port Said, whilst Rachmed was to accompany us to 
Paris before returning to Russian Turkestan, and Father Dede- 
keu is going to spend a little time in Belgium, Prince Henry 
and myself, the only two Frenchmen of the party, are going to 
stay in France for a time, and, before laying down the pen, 
let me add that we are all very pleased at the results of the 
journey ; whilst I must thank my companions for having reposed 
confidence in me, and for having worked with all their might to 
carry out a somewhat daring scheme. Having all done the best.. 
we could, we hope the critics will not be too hard on us. 




KACHMED AND A THIBETAN INNKEEPER. 



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